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Columfita aniiiergitp 

STUDIES IN KOMANCE PHILOLOGY AND 
LITEEATUKE 



STAGE DECORATION IN FRANCE 
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



STAGE DECORATION IN FRANCE 



IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



BY 



DONALD CLIVE STUART, Ph.D. 



mti 




Stfo gorK 

THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 

1910 



All rights reserved 






Copyright, 1910 
By The Columbia University Press 



Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1910 



Press of 

The New era printing company 

Lancaster, Pa. 



©CLA261923 






NOTE 

The following dissertation, having been ex- 
amined by the Department of Romance Lan- 
guages and Literatures of Columbia University, 
was considered to be a valuable contribution to 
the history of the medieval stage in France, and 
has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the 
requirement for the degree of Doctor of Phi- 
losophy. 

Henry Alfred Todd. 

Columbia University, 
January, 1910. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER I 

The Question of an Uninterrupted Dramatic 
Tradition. Earliest Records of Scenery. A 
Possible Origin of the Use of Chairs as Scenery. 
Introduction of Real Scenery. The Sponsus. 
Heaven not Represented in Early Plays. The 
Stage on One Level 10 

CHAPTER II 

The Thirteenth Century. Setting of the 
Adam Play. Besurrection du Sauveur probably 
on One Level. Early Profane Drama .... 33 

CHAPTER III 

Tableaux and Pantomimes. Great Variety 
of Scenes. Use of Different Levels. Setting of 
an Early Provencal Play. Influence of the Tab- 
leaux and Pantomimes 44 

CHAPTER IV 

Miracles de Notre Dame. Their Treatment of 
the Hell Scene. Their Stage of two Levels. Set- 
ting of Heaven not Important. Scenes on Earth. 
Number of Scenes 54 



viii STAGE DECORATION 

CHAPTER V 
Miracles de Ste. Genevieve. Their Date and 
Place of Performance. Resemblance to the Mir- 
acles de Notre Dame in Their Treatment of the 
Scene in Hell. Setting of the Nativite. The 
Passion. The Resurrection 85 

CHAPTER VI 

Longer Passions of the 15th Century. Evi- 
dence Furnished by Miniatures. Passion oV Arras. 
Hell Placed on a Level below Earth. Setting of 
the Play according to Journees. Passion at 
Rouen in 1474. Number of Scenes. One Level. 
Passion de Semur. Its Setting according to 
Journees 106 

CHAPTER VII 

Different Levels in Hell in Michel's Resurrec- 
tion. Idea derived from Greban's Passion. De- 
scription of the Scene in Hell. Terrestrial Para- 
dise and Heaven. Scenes on Earth. Some 
Scenes in Michel's Passion 128 

CHAPTER VIII 

Setting of Provencal Plays. Stage of Three 
Levels. 152 

CHAPTER IX 

Pantomimes of the Fifteenth Century. Their 
Influence on the Indoor Stage 158 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES ix 

CHAPTER X 
Stage of the Vie de Saint Martin on Three 
Levels. Number of Scenes. Settings of Other 
Miracle Plays of the Fifteenth Century. Com- 
parison of these Plays with the Miracles de Notre 
Dame. Miracles of the Sixteenth Century. A 
Stage on One Level. The Use of the Dragon's 
Head. The Actes des Apotres 166 

CHAPTER XI 

The Indoor Stage at Paris. Dimensions of 
Stages. The Question of Two Rows of Scenes 
on Separate Elevations. The Setting of the Vieil 
Testament. Number of Scenes Set at One Time. 
Heaven and Hell not the most Important 
Scenes 188 

CHAPTER XII 

The Profane Stage. Setting of the Maulvais 
Riche. Setting of Moralites. The Sottie. TH 
Farce 202 

CONCLUSION 



INTRODUCTION 

Writers on the subject of stage decoration 
in the Middle Ages have generally drawn their 
data from Religious plays alone. The question 
of the setting of the Profane stage has been left 
unsolved. The reason for this is that the mys- 
teries and miracle plays are far more explicit 
in describing their scenery than are the farces 
and sotties. Also, after having reconstructed 
the simple decoration of the early liturgical 
drama, and after having mentioned the stage 
of the Adam play, investigators have then 
turned their attention to the great religious 
spectacles given in the open air in the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries, and have described at 
length the scenes and machines used in these 
really wonderful productions. An impression 
is left upon the mind of the reader that the 
typical stage of the Middle Ages was very large 
and contained many scenes, including Heaven, 
on a level above the stage, and a dragon's mouth 
representing Hell. But we shall attempt to 
1 1 



2 STAGE DECOEATION 

prove that there were many other types of 
stages, ranging from the stage entirely without 
setting to the stage with many scenes on differ- 
ent levels. We shall try to show that no single 
kind of stage can he said to be typical of the 
Middle Ages to the exclusion of all others. The 
one characteristic common to the theaters of 
that period is that scenes were set simulta- 
neously on the stage; but the number, the 
arrangement, the elaborateness varied greatly 
from time to time and from place to place. The 
stage of the Actes des Apbtres given in the 
amphitheater in Bourges must have presented 
a very different appearance from the stage of 
the same play given in the Hopital de la 
Trinite. On the other hand, the Farce du 
Cuvier would not resemble the Actes des Apo- 
tres in stage setting in the slightest degree, 
although they may have been represented on 
the same stage in Paris. 

The division of the drama of the Middle 
Ages into the categories of religious and pro- 
fane is convenient and has been followed in 
preparing this work. However, if the stage 
decoration of the religious drama alone is stud- 
ied, and if the dramas of the fourteenth cen- 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 3 

tury are left out of consideration, as they have 
been, one cannot hope to arrive at the whole 
truth. Therefore the attempt has been made to 
reconstruct the setting of all kinds of drama at 
all times, as far as is possible ; for only by con- 
sidering the whole stage of the period can one 
finally gain a true impression of the system of 
stage decoration. 

In order to fill the lacunae in the history of 
stage setting, plays must be utilized which give 
little or even no hint of their scenery in stage 
directions, such as the Miracles de Notre Dame 
and practically all profane plays. How are we 
to gain information in regard to the setting of 
such plays, if stage directions are lacking? 
There is but one way: the lines themselves 
must furnish the desired evidence. This method, 
therefore, whether it be considered good or bad, 
must be accepted if one wishes to carry investi- 
gations of the subject farther than they have 
reached at present. The question must be de- 
cided whether these plays without stage direc- 
tions were also without scenery; and if they 
had scenery, it must be reconstructed. 

This method was suggested by the fact that 
in dramas whose stage setting is carefully de- 



4 STAGE DECOEATION 

scribed, the lines often anticipate the stage 
directions in the description of scenery. Then in 
turning to such plays as the Miracles de Notre 
Dame, which are almost entirely without stage 
directions, it is found that the lines contain con- 
stant references to scenery, and that the reader 
is rarely at a loss to know where the action is 
taking place. The question arises whether such 
references may not be wholly rhetorical. Yet 
this does not seem possible except in very few 
cases. !N o one can investigate this subject with- 
out being impressed by the fact that the stage 
carpenters — if we may thus apply a modern 
expression — were always striving after reality. 
Kealism and reality are two underlying prin- 
ciples in the system of stage setting from the 
earliest plays down to the great mysteries. The 
simultaneous mounting of scenes is a proof of 
this. Thus, with this system in vogue, we can- 
not believe that when a character pointed out 
a window or knocked at a door and entered a 
house he carried on a mere pantomime in the 
empty air. There must have been scenery to 
correspond to such lines. 

The author of the play no doubt intended 
his text to be followed in setting the scenes. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 5 

Direct proof of this is found in a stage direc- 
tion of the Mistere du Vieil Testament In one 
passage the angels are told to show themselves 
in the order comme dit le texte. Later there 
is a direct reference to scenery itself which is 
to be ordonnez selon le texte. 

Because of the above considerations this 
method has been employed not only when stage 
directions are lacking; but evidence furnished 
by the lines has also been used to complete evi- 
dence furnished by the directions. It is by 
this means that we hope to prove that more 
than two levels were used on the stage in order 
to make the scenery more realistic; that the 
interior of Hell was often visible; that the 
dragon's head was not as frequent a setting for 
Hell as has been supposed ; that stages were also 
common on which very few scenes appeared. 

It is not claimed that this method is entirely 
successful and accurate for all plays. At times 
doubts arise as to whether a certain scene, 
vaguely mentioned by the lines, appeared upon 
the stage at all; and, if it did appear, whether 
it was carefully set or merely indicated. For 
example, it is sometimes hard to decide whether 
a provost or judge sat in a chair representing 



6 STAGE DECOEATION 

his house, or whether a special setting was used 
for the scene. Yet these questions arise quite 
rarely, and they do not affect the evidence as a 
whole. In each case when the doubtful scene 
occurs, attention has been called to the fact that 
it is doubtful; but plays in which such scenes 
arise have been avoided as much as possible. 
Thus, while there may be a difference of opinion 
in regard to the problematical existence on the 
stage of one or two scenes in some plays, espe- 
cially in the longer miracle plays, the lines are 
to be depended upon, as a rule, to a degree that 
may hardly seem possible to one who has not 
tested this method. 

As far as has been practicable the plays have 
been treated separately, since it has been our 
purpose to show the many different kinds of 
settings that existed in the Middle Ages. A 
description of a scene in Heaven or in Hell 
drawn from the stage directions of all the great 
mysteries would tend to magnify the relative 
importance of these scenes on the whole medi- 
eval stage. There is no doubt that these two 
scenes were often set with special care, and the 
eyes of the spectator must have seen many novel 
effects in them; but the stages must not be left 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 7 

out of the account upon which these scenes were 
not set at all, or if they were set, did not by 
any means constitute the all-enthralling scenes, 
since little action took place in them. Also, 
more attention has been given to the settings 
themselves than to the wonderful machinery 
employed by the producers of the open air 
mysteries. 

In regard to the brief treatment of the ques- 
tion of the origin of medieval drama, let it be 
said that we realize that the belief in an un- 
broken dramatic tradition rests upon theory 
more than upon facts. The lack of written 
dramas in the period in which some believe the 
tradition to have been broken means very little, 
for drama, according to the broad definition 
which must be given it when such questions 
arise, can easily exist without the written word. 
There may have, been no texts in this period of 
dramatic history; but since we find no extant 
texts, either because none existed or because all 
were lost, are we to believe that the dramatic 
concept ceased to exist ? The evidence of texts 
would be gratifying, but the want of such evi- 
dence does not induce us to believe in a rebirth 
of drama. Such a phenomenon is more diffi- 



8 STAGE DECOEATION 

cult to accept than the phenomenon, so easily 
explained, of the lack of evidence of the exist- 
ence of a form of art during a hundred years 
at a time when confusion reigned, and when 
this particular form of art was more or less 
under the ban of the law. One might be more 
skeptical if it were a question of any real lit- 
erary form. But drama is not inherently a 
literary form of art. It does not even need to 
be spoken, in order to exist and to live. 

However, in regard to this problem and all 
others discussed in the following pages, it has 
been our aim to be undogmatic. The study was 
undertaken not in the hope of overthrowing 
existing theories, but in order to cast new light 
upon the subject by the investigation of dramas 
by means of a method hitherto unemployed as 
far as this period is concerned. Finally, the 
work seemed worth while in order to present 
the setting of the whole medieval stage in 
France, and not merely a part of it as has been 
done heretofore, for only by studying the whole 
stage can one understand the real condition of 
the stage decoration of the Middle Ages. 

It is to be regretted that, owing to the neces- 
sity of frequent citations from medieval plays, 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 9 

the text of the present volume must change so 
often from English to Old French; but it has 
seemed inadvisable to translate passages from 
which data are drawn for such a work as this. 
The word maison, which is used in rather a 
technical sense and which is untranslatable in 
this special use, may need explanation. It 
means either a piece of scenery, or a scene itself. 
Thus a setting may consist of six maisons or 
scenes, one of which may, for example, be a 
mountain. It is also used with the meaning of 
"house," in the sense that the house is repre- 
sented by real scenery and not merely by a 
chair. 

In view of the fact that the necessary bib- 
liographical indications have been given in con- 
nection with all references throughout the book, 
it has been thought that no general bibliography 
is here called for. A sufficient index to the 
various subjects treated will be found conve- 
niently provided in the analytical table of con- 
tents prefixed to the volume. 

It is with deep gratitude that the author ex- 
presses his thanks to Professor H. A. Todd, who 
suggested this subject for investigation and 
under whose kind and scholarly supervision the 
work has been carried on. 



CHAPTEE I 

The Question of an Uninterrupted Dramatic Tradition. 
Earliest Eeeords of Scenery. A possible Origin of the 
Use of Chairs as Scenery. Introduction of Eeal Scenery. 
The Sponsus. Heaven not Kepresented in Early Plays. 
The Stage on One Level. 

The drama of the Middle Ages has been 
divided into two kinds: religious and profane. 
There is no exact line of demarcation between 
them, since the religious and profane elements 
are early mingled on the stage. Yet it has been 
found expedient by authors to treat these two 
forms of dramatic representation not only in 
separate chapters of the same book but even in 
different books. The result of this practice has 
been to establish two statements in regard to 
the origin of drama. It is generally accepted 
that the profane or comic theater is a direct 
outgrowth of the mime. The religious theater 
is supposed to find its beginning in Christian 
worship. Professor Petit de Julleville goes so 
far as to say that religion created the drama, 
10 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 11 

and he draws the oft-repeated parallel between 
the origin of the drama in Greece and in 
France. 1 

The definition of drama, as far as the Middle 
Ages are concerned, must be made very broad. 
It must include almost any attempt to repre- 
sent an historical or imaginary event either by 
tableaux, pantomime, or dialogue spoken or 
sung. Therefore if the mime used any of these 
means of entertainment and thus preserved the 
spark of comedy, the theory of a second birth 
of the drama in Europe must be given up. 
irtlje mime consisted of only dances and rope- 
walking in the eighth and ninth centuries, when 
we last hear of it in France before the rise of 
liturgical drama, it is difficult to explain why 
the church was so hostile to this harmless form 
of entertainment. Reich is of the opinion that 
the dramatic mime lived throughout the Middle 
Ages, and he gives citations of authors who 
refer to mimes as late as the year 836. 2 The 
primitive drama of the adoration of the shep- 
herds was played in the tenth century. 3 Since 

x Les Mysteres, Paris, 1880, vol. I. p. 2. 

2 Der Mimus, Berlin, 1903, eh. 9. 

8 Petit de Julleville, les Mysteres, vol. I, p. 25. 



12 STAGE DECOEATION 

836 is by no means the date of the passing of 
the mimes, and since they are considered im- 
portant enough to be mentioned by Agobert, it 
is probable that their art lived at least until 
the liturgical drama began. Then the litur- 
gical drama would be a religious mime. It is 
difficult to believe that the profane dramatic 
representations did not give the impulse to these 
religious representations. Is it not possible 
that even before there were tropes interpolated 
into the services, there were mimed representa- 
tions of sacred events? Du Meril 4 brings evi- 
dence that this was the case. He quotes Fridegod 
as saying in 956 of Saint Ouen, who lived in the 
seventh century: In eorum domo non ut assolet 
in quorundam saeculorum conviviis mimorum 
vel histrionum carmina foeda sed evangelica vel 
apostolica sive prophetica personabant oracula. 
Whether this is true of Saint Ouen or not, at 
least it is evidence that early in the tenth cen- 
tury there was a tradition of the representa- 
tion of sacred oracula at a time when mimi and 
Mstriones still existed. If this is true of the 
seventh century, then there was a kind of 
4 Origines latines du theatre moderne, Paris, 1849. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 13 

drama before the appearance of tropes. In 
either case there is the probability that mimes 
and a kind of religious drama were contem- 
poraneous. 

That the profane mime was popular with all 
classes of people is sufficiently attested by the 
fulminations of the church against it. Some 
form of drama is dear to the hearts of all peo- 
ples. The churchmen seem to have had little 
success in putting a stop to plays up to 836 at 
least. From the tenth century on, dramatic 
representations flourish. Is it possible that for 
the space of a hundred years, at the most, the 
interest in such shows was dead after having 
been so hard to kill before this time, and living 
so strongly afterward? 

Taking this evidence into consideration, it 
seems that the theory as to the origin of French 
drama should be modified. Dramas with a 
religious subject are born in the church, of 
Christian worship. But the spirit of drama 
was kept in the mimes at least until the litur- 
gical drama furnished the people with repre- 
sentations which took the place of the mimes. 
Therefore drama did not die; but was handed 



14 STAGE DECOEATION 

down in crude forms, at times, until the present 
day. 5 

Where, then, in the history of stage decora- 
tion, should investigations begin? The setting 
of the stage should be traced from the earliest 
Roman plays and spectacles through the Middle 
Ages. Unfortunately documents giving infor- 
mation as to the exact nature of the mimes in 
Trance are lacking. It is impossible, at the pres- 
ent time, to describe the state of the scenery 
which was in vogue when the first liturgical 
plays were acted. Yet, because scenery plays 
an important part throughout the Middle Ages, 
and because scenery is carefully indicated in 
the early liturgical drama, it seems probable 
that it was never wholly neglected, especially if 
the character of the representation were such 
that a setting of some kind would have aided in 
making the dialogue or action clearer to the 
spectator. There is little reason for doubting, 
however, that whatever scenery was displayed, 
was improvised. 

5 Beich has reached the same conclusion by using some- 
what different data, op. cit., p. 854, note 1. His com- 
parison between the mime and the mystery, which is a 
much later development, is not very strong evidence. 
Such parallels are too easily made. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 15 

The use of chairs to represent different local- 
ities is a characteristic of what may be called 
the stage of the liturgical drama. Is this the 
invention of some scribe who wrote one of these 
dramas, and was this convention then accepted 
for all times after the representation in which it 
first occurred; or is it an outgrowth of the 
" stage " of histriones or mimes ? It would be 
natural, when these actors, if they may be dig- 
nified with that name, came to the hall of some 
seigneur, to clear a space for them. There 
would be no "behind the scenes"; but if one 
of them was not engaged in the show during a 
certain time he would probably sit down, in 
order not to attract attention away from the 
performer, as was done throughout the Middle 
Ages. Just as to-day, chairs would be placed 
for them. If there was a trace of drama in 
these shows, and if it was necessary to the action 
that one character should come from a certain 
place or go to a character who was supposed to 
be in another locality, in the minds of the spec- 
tators the chair from which he came or the 
chair in which the second character was sitting, 
would represent that locality, be it house, town, 
or country. The next step, the formal repre- 



16 STAGE DECOEATION 

sentation of a room or house by a chair, would 
be made easily. It seems possible, therefore, 
that the custom of placing chairs or seats of 
some kind on the stage to be occupied by per- 
formers when not acting, and the convention 
of having chairs represent scenes, come from 
such performances, which antedate the litur- 
gical drama. 

The first indications of scenery occur in the 
liturgical drama. It is striking that the direc- 
tions for the setting and for the action are so 
carefully noted. The spectacle is at least as 
important as the lines, if not more so. The 
Plancius Marioe et aliorum 6 is remarkable in 
that each line is accompanied by a direction for 
the action. The element of pantomime is so 
strong in this play that it seems possible that 
there may have been religious mimes to which 
lines to be sung were added later, and that the 
liturgical drama is not an outgrowth of tropes 
but of sacred pantomimes. This drama, which 
was in effect a pantomime, belongs probably to 
the thirteenth century; but in the Trois Rois, 7 

8 Coussemaker, Drames liturgiques, Didron, 1861. P. 
285. 
'Ibid. p. 242. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 17 

which is one of the most primitive forms of 
liturgical drama, pantomime is found. A 
Cantor explains the action: Magi veniunt ab 
Orient e. For the moment the play becomes in 
reality a sacred pantomime. Taking into con- 
sideration the importance of spectacle and ac- 
tion it does not seem too bold to conjecture that 
religious mimes, not tropes without scenery, 
are the primitive form of liturgical drama. 
Nor is it strange if no descriptions or directions 
for such representations have been preserved. 
The action could be easily improvised in a 
moment. Only when words and music were 
combined with it, would it seem necessary and 
important that the play should be intrusted to 
writing. Thus the early tropes of the tenth 
century would be naturally preserved. But is 
it certain that these early forms of antiphonal 
service were unaccompanied by action? Or, 
when the Quern quceritis in prcesepe, pastores, 
dicite was sung, was there a kind of pantomime 
going on before the altar, which then repre- 
sented the prcesepe in some way, as it did later ? 
In this case the tropes would bear the same rela- 
tion to the action as the words sung by the 
Cantor in the Trois Rois. They would be the 

2 



18 STAGE DECOKATION 

explanation and accompaniment of the drama. 
Undoubtedly the idea of dialogue developed 
from the tropes; but it is possible that the 
action existed before the dialogue. Even if it 
be granted that the tropes grew up independ- 
ently of any action, it is still more natural to 
believe that the action was introduced into the 
Church from profane dramatic representations: 
the same representations, whatever they were, 
which kept comedy alive. The tropes would 
then be considered as merely a part of the 
worship; but when they are combined with or 
are sung in accompaniment to action, the litur- 
gical drama exists. 

Action and spectacle, in a crude way, are so 
important that it is difficult to believe that they 
sprung and developed so quickly from tropes. 8 
One naturally seeks the origin of drama in such 
action and mimicry. Dialogue is rather an out- 
growth than an inherent necessity. For these 
reasons and those cited above, it does not seem 
possible that the drama of the Middle Ages was 
born in the Church and that its primitive form 

8 See the formula used in England in the tenth cen- 
tury where the action is so important. Lange, Die latein- 
ischen Osterfeiern, Miinchen, 1887, p. 38. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 19 

was the trope. On the contrary, the most im- 
portant element of the drama, action or mim- 
icry, seems to have lived in mimes at least until 
it was introduced into the worship of the 
Church, which lends itself to action so readily. 
There is evidence which points to religious pan- 
tomime. The next step would be the explana- 
tion of this pantomime by a Cantor or by tropes. 
The combination of tropes and action formed 
the liturgical drama. 

The occasions on which the worship lent 
itself to mimetic action are many. The dedi- 
cation of a church with the ritual of Gallican 
origin, 9 and the worship during holy week, are 
striking examples. Since such actions existed 
before the writing of tropes, and since the 
liturgical drama grew up soon after the inter- 
polation of such dialogue, the question may be 
raised again as to whether the tropes were un- 
accompanied by action. The difference be- 
tween a trope and liturgical drama seems to lie 
in the fact that the manuscript of the latter con- 
tains the directions for action. Is it not pos- 
sible that the earliest form of the Quern quceritis 

8 Chambers, Mediaeval Stage, Oxford, 1903, vol. II, pp. 
4, 5. 



20 STAGE DECOEATION 

of the St. Gall manuscript was accompanied by 
action — action which was taken for granted and 
not described? In the eleventh century trope 
of St. Martial of Limoges a narrative passage is 
found. This is a parallel to the Trois Bois in 
which the narrative element exists. A most 
striking bit of evidence that action is the most 
important part of liturgical drama is found in 
the Concordia Begularis of St. Ethelwold 10 
drawn up before the close of the twelfth cen- 
tury. The action is described very minutely 
in narrative form. Songs to be sung are indi- 
cated, and the dialogue is mentioned. It is the 
action, however, which is most carefully de- 
scribed. The existence of a liturgical drama 
in this form points to action accompanying the 
earliest tropes. This formula seems to be an 
example of the primitive way of preserving a 
liturgical drama. It is not necessarily the 
most primitive form of drama. It does not 
seem probable that an action so developed could 
have been suggested by tropes alone. The tropes 
are rather an addition to mimetic action, which, 
in itself, is drama, for drama can exist without 
dialogue. 
10 Chambers, op. cit., vol. II, p. 14. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 21 

For these reasons it is misleading to consider 
that there was a second birth of drama in 
Europe. The profane mime, if it kept comedy 
alive, must have action or dialogue or both. 
At least, such drama seems to have existed until 
the religious mimetic action arose. The idea 
of drama is therefore best considered as merely 
transferred from the profane to the religious 
subject. The form of Christian worship fos- 
tered dramatic representations of a religious 
nature. The profane element which exists in 
some of the earliest extant liturgical plays is, 
in itself, evidence of profane representations 
the account of which is lost to us. 

The earliest references to scenery point to 
the altar as stage and setting. A sepulchre is 
"made in a vacant part of the altar and a veil 
stretched on a ring" covers it until the adora- 
tion of the cross is over in the Concordia Regu- 
laris. Chambers believes that this sepulchre is 
made on the altar by the "laying together of 
some of the silver service-books," as was done 
at Narbonne several centuries later. 11 Since 
the cross which is laid in it is small enough to 
be held on a cushion, the sepulchre itself was 

n Op. cit., p. 17, note 1 ; p. 21. 



22 STAGE DECORATION 

probably small. Even in this drama a chair is 
used, although it cannot be regarded as part of 
the scenery. After having kissed the cross the 
abbot is directed to go ad sedem suam. It may 
be that the use of chairs as scenery originated 
from such customs, rather than in the manner 
indicated above. 

The representation of the sepulchre became 
more elaborate. In the Nuit de Pdques 12 the 
sepulchre can be opened and entered. That the 
sepulchre is not the altar is shown by the fact 
that they are both mentioned as different places 
by the stage direction : Hoc dido, Marie exeant 
de sepulchro; post appareat Dominus in sinistro 
cornu altaris. This may have been scenery 
made specially, or a curtained recess such as 
served for the sepulchre. The crypt also served 
as scenery for the sepulchre, as in the drama of 
the text of Wiirzburg, 13 where the angels de- 
scend into the crypt to await the coming of the 
three Marys. 

The drama of the Trois Rois shows a primi- 
tive form of setting for the plays given at 
Christmas. The star is shown, and a part of 

12 Coussemaker, Drames liturgiques, p. 250. 
18 Lange, Die lateinischen Osterfeiern, p. 53. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 23 

the altar is concealed by curtains which, when 
drawn back, disclose the child. The angel does 
not appear to have been in some high place as 
if speaking from Heaven. The direction reads 
. . . quidam Puer, alba indutus, quasi Angelus, 
antiphonam ante altare illis dicat. The Office 
des Pasteurs, 14 played at Rouen, directs that the 
scene be set as follows: Prcesepe sit paratum 
retro altare et imago sanctce Mario? sit in eo 
posita. In this play the angels are in an ele- 
vated place. In the Adoration des Mages 15 
they are supposed to appear in excelsis. At 
times, the boy representing the angel was placed 
super pulpitum. 16 Such arrangements are the 
beginnings from which the representation of 
Heaven above the stage grew. But such settings 
are not to be considered as a real representation 
of Heaven. Even the effect of a two-storied 
stage does not exist. There are voices speaking 
from on high. There is no evidence of scenery. 
The decoration of Heaven is not a character- 
istic of the liturgical drama but of the later 
Passion play. The indefinite in excelsis and 
alto loco are evidence that the scene was not set. 

14 Du Meril, p. 147. 

15 Du Meril, p. 162. 
18 Du Meril, p. 99. 



24 STAGE DECOEATION 

The Massacre des innocents 17 demands a more 
complicated setting. Besides the prcesepe and 
the angel speaking ah excelso, Herod is found 
seated on a throne as is shown in both direc- 
tions and lines. Egypt and Galilee are men- 
tioned, but were probably without designation. 
It is always a question as to whether such places 
were marked with scenery. It seems, however, 
that the partem Galilee would be the place from 
which Joseph went, and that the spectators 
would understand. The Adoration des Mages 
illustrates how such action was carried on with- 
out scenery in the following direction : Interim 
Magi prodeuntes, quisque de angulo suo quasi 
de regione sua. The spectator was supposed to 
know from whence they came. Such a place 
was practically behind the scenes. Even though 
a character was in view of the audience at all 
times, he could be imagined as coming from any 
place. He was, in effect, behind the scenes 
until his part began. 

Another convention which is found in the 
liturgical drama and which exists throughout 
the Middle Ages is that each actor has a special 
place to which he goes when not actively en- 

17 Coussemaker, p. 166. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 25 

gaged in the performance. In the drama of le 
Sepulchre, 18 for example, the actors are directed 
to go ad locum suum. This was evidently a 
means of keeping order on the stage. If a 
character was important and had a maison or 
chair, he returned to it. If not, he probably 
went to a place where he would be out of 
the way. 

The Conversion de Saint Paul 19 shows a dis- 
tinct advance in the art of stage setting. The 
direction reads as follows: Ad representandam 
Conversionem beati Pauli apostoli, paretur in 
competenti loco, quasi Jerusalem, quedam sedes, 
et super earn Princeps sacerdotum. Paretur et 
alia sedes, et super earn juvenis quidam in simili- 
tudine Sauli; liabeatque secum ministros arma- 
tos. Ex alia vero parte, aliquantulum longe ab 
his sedibus, sint parate quasi in Damasco due 
sedes; in altera quarum sedeat vir quidam 
nomine Judas, et in altera Princeps Synagoge 
Damasci. Et inter has duas sedes sit paratus 
lectus, in quo jaceat vir quidam in similitudine 
Ananie. Thus chairs instead of real scenery 
are used to represent cities ; but is there in this 

18 Coussemaker, p. 298. 

19 Coussemaker, p. 210. 



26 STAGE DECOBATION 

play a simple piece of scenery in the shape of a 
wall, as Cohen interprets the direction : 20 . . . in 
sporta ah aliquo alto loco, quasi a muro. . . . 9 
This hardly points to a special scene con- 
structed for the purpose. 

Real scenery, however, makes its appearance 
in the Resurrection de Lazare. 21 The house of 
Simon is mentioned, and it could not be a chair 
since a table is set in it. Tunc Simon inducat 
Jesum in domum mam, et, posita mensa. . . . 
Later in the play the house is mentioned in the 
following direction : " However let the house of 
Simon, when he himself has gone, be treated as 
if Bethany." If the rest of the play is read, 
it is seen that Bethany means the house of 
Mary and Martha. Lazarus falls sick in it 
and lies in lectulo. There is also a direction: 
Maria tacite a domo egrediente. Had there been 
no scenery for the house itself when it belonged 
to Simon, but merely a table, or when it be- 
longed to Mary and Martha had there been 
merely a bed, it would not have been so care- 
fully directed that the space be considered as 
Mary's and Martha's house. There must have 

20 Cohen, Histoire de la mise-en-scene, Paris, 1906, p. 25. 

21 Coussemaker, p. 221. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 27 

been a setting for the house. Thus maisons and 
real scenery are found even in liturgical drama. 

The direction to use the same scenery twice 
in one play is significant. It is the means of 
keeping down the number of maisons when the 
space is limited. Since, as a general rule, the 
stage business of the simple liturgical drama 
differs little from that of the larger and more 
complicated plays, it may be inferred that this 
natural way of re-using scenery was employed 
later whenever it was necessary to reduce the 
number of maisons, as for example in some of 
the Miracles de Notre Dame which were given 
indoors. 

In the Fils de Gedron 22 the scenery is still 
more complicated. The directions call for a 
throne, Rex Marmorinus in alta sede; the church 
of St. Nicholas which can be entered, ad eccle- 
siam Sancti Nicolai eant; in quam cum introie- 
rint; — and also the house of Euphrosina into 
which she enters and sets a table, eat in domum 
suam, et paret mensam. The doors of this house 
are mentioned both in the directions and the 
lines. Such direct references to scenery can 
hardly be rhetorical. This drama, with its set- 

22 Coussemaker, p. 123. 



28 STAGE DECOEATION 

ting, together with the Daniel from the MS. of 
Beauvais, foreshadows the later miracle plays. 
The Daniel did not form an integral part of 
the worship. The scenery consisted of a throne 
and at least one wall of the palace, on which a 
hand wrote the fateful words. The lion's den 
was shown and its interior was visible. These 
are simple settings, but they prove that scenery 
was employed in the early liturgical drama in 
about the same manner as in the later mysteries. 
The drama of the Sponsus, 23 generally dated 
as belonging to the eleventh century, shows a 
developed form of liturgical drama. The text 
is no longer entirely in Latin. The element of 
spectacle has begun to increase in importance 
at the expense of the element of worship. Hell 
was represented. Demons were introduced, one 
is tempted to say, for the delectation of the 
audience. There is little difference, in spirit 
and effect, between the scene implied in the 
direction: Modo accipiant eas et precipitentur 
in infernum, and the diablerie in any later 
mystery. This play was acted in a church ; but 
it does not contain more religious elements than 

23 Monmerque et Michel, Theatre francais au moyen 
age, Paris, 1842. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 29 

are found in the Miracles de Notre Dame, which 
hardly ought to be classed as religious drama. 
There is only one sacred character in the Spon- 
sus, while the virgins, the merchants and espe- 
cially the devils are profane. They are not con- 
nected with any religious festival as the shep- 
herds are with Christmas. The lines were 
sung ; but the effect of the play and the interest 
it aroused must have differed from the effect 
and interest aroused by the antiphonal lines of 
a purely religious drama sung at Easter or 
Christmas. Thus as early as the eleventh cen- 
tury, granted that the Sponsus is not anterior 
to the year 1000, 24 the drama has already 
reached a stage of development which is not 
wholly religious and entirely wrapped up with 
the ritual. 

Petit de Julleville has described the scenery 
of this play. He believed that Hell was rep- 
resented by " un gouffre d'ou s echappaient des 
flammes. Also, since there was a Hell, he was 
of the opinion that Heaven was represented 
above the place where the merchants stood. 
However, if the lines are read and the implied 
action is considered, a different conclusion is 

^Les Mysteres, vol. 1, p. 27. 



30 STAGE DECOEATION 

reached. The wise and foolish virgins are at 
first together. The foolish virgins are told to 
go and buy oil of two merchants who "stand 
there." 25 They go and return, but cry out: 
Aperire fac nobis ostium. This line shows a 
door to the place they had left, which was not 
Heaven, but is referred to by the Sponsus as: 
Hujus aule limine. It is more of a terrestrial 
paradise or sacred court. It was probably rep- 
resented by some inclosure, and it may have 
been the place about the altar with a gate. 

Heaven is not mentioned or needed. As to 
the scenery which represented Hell, one is re- 
duced to conjecture. It may have been the 
crypt which served for this scene. As for flames 
issuing from Hell, there is no reason for believ- 
ing that the scene was so realistic. The mere 
representation of Hell is an isolated case in 
extant liturgical dramas; and such realism in 
scenery is more characteristic of later mysteries 
produced in the open air. 

This play and its setting show a development 
in liturgical drama. Its date is therefore im- 
portant in regard to the growth of liturgical 
drama, the birth of which Petit de Julleville 

25 Que lai veet ester. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 31 

places somewhat after the year 1000. But there 
is reason to believe that the Sponsus may have 
been composed even before this date. The play 
deals with the coming of Christ and warns 
people to be ready for him. This is a natural 
subject to deal with just before or perhaps dur- 
ing the year 1000 when the return of Christ 
was expected. Such a play would probably be 
written before rather than after this date. 
Thus if there is comparatively developed litur- 
gical drama at the end of the tenth century, the 
date of the rise of purely religious drama must 
be put back. The gap between the last remnants 
of Latin dramatic representations and liturgical 
drama is lessened. The presence of dramatic 
action and scenery in the state in which they 
are found in the Sponsus at such a date is evi- 
dence that the spirit of drama never died, but 
that the actors and authors of religious drama 
took their cue from profane dramatic action. 

The development of the setting of the litur- 
gical drama may be summed up as follows. The 
setting began at the altar, but moved away from 
it as other scenes were needed. Both chairs and 
maisons were used to represent places, all of 
which are generally represented at once, although 



32 STAGE DECOEATION 

a maison may represent two places successively. 
The scenery is comparatively exact, the rule 
being that what is necessary to the action is 
represented. These are about the same condi- 
tions as will prevail throughout the Middle 
Ages. There is however this difference. Hell 
does not play an important part in liturgical 
drama. Heaven can hardly be said to have been 
represented at all. There have been angels in 
high places as aux voutes de Veglise; but these 
references are to the sky from which the angels 
make the annunciation or hover over the man- 
ger, and they do not give evidence that the place 
where the angels were was decorated to repre- 
sent Heaven. The setting of the liturgical 
drama does not give the effect of a two-storied 
stage, but of a stage of one level. It is true 
that the custom of representing Heaven above 
the level of the stage proper grew from the cus- 
tom of having angels in alto loco, etc. ; but this 
is a later development. 



CHAPTER II 

The Thirteenth Century Setting of the Adam Play. 
Resurrection du Sauveur Probably on One Level. Early 
Profane Drama. 

The withdrawal of the stage from the altar 
to the public square was accomplished even by 
liturgical dramas. Thus it is not surprising to 
find the mystery play of Adam given in front 
of the church in the thirteenth 1 century. The 
Latin stage directions which accompany this 
play are copious and, it is to be believed, exact. 
The direction manu monstrabit portas ecclesie 
is evidence that the scene was set in front of 
a church. The raised space, to which a few 
steps lead, found before the doors of many 
churches, would have sufficed easily for the 
needs of this play, and from such a stage the 
devils could make the directed discursum per 
populum. There is no evidence of a scaffold- 
ing being built for the stage ; and if the space 

*Paul Meyer, Eomania, 1903, p. 637. Luzarche, 
Adam, Tours, 1854. 

3 33 



34 STAGE DECOKATION 

in front of the church were not raised, it is 
possible that there was no stage constructed, but 
that actors and spectators were on the same 
level, as they probably were when a play was 
given within a church. 

As for the setting, Terrestrial Paradise is 
probably placed above the level of the rest of the 
stage, although the direction: Constituatur 
paradisus loco eminenciori may mean that 
the scene is merely to be prominent. There 
are curtains around it so that the actors 
within are only visible from the shoulders up. 
There are also sweet-smelling flowers and trees, 
including the Tree of Life. This scene is not 
to be mistaken for Heaven — a place which was 
not shown in early dramas as it is in the later 
plays. Heaven is only represented figuratively 
by the church, into which the actor imper- 
sonating God is directed to enter when his 
presence on the stage is not necessary. This 
scene is quite different from the later stages, 
which were dominated by God and the angels 
sitting on high. What this disposition of scenery 
does show, is the ever-present realism of the 
stage in the Middle Ages. Paradise is better 
than earth, and hence is usually shown on a 
higher plane. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 35 

Hell was also represented. It is impossible 
to determine its locality and level. Its interior 
was probably not visible since there is nothing 
to indicate a scene in Hell. Smoke escapes 
from it and an infernal din is heard from 
within. It can be entered, but the scenery serv- 
ing for this entrance is merely described as 
portas inferni. Thus gates or doors from which 
smoke escapes may be accounted all the scenery 
of Hell. Had there been more, the author, so 
exact and minute in his other directions and 
descriptions, would have noted the details; but 
this scene appears to be unimportant in regard 
to construction, although the devils play a large 
role in the action. 

The setting for the rest of the stage is simple. 
Thorns and tares spring up in the ground culti- 
vated by Adam. Two large stones serve for the 
altars of Cain and Abel. The place where the 
murder is committed is designated as locum 
remotum quasi secretum, but, so far as appears, 
there was no special scenery. The only prop- 
erties for those who prophesy the coming of 
Christ are a throne or seat where each remains 
while he speaks his lines before being carried 
into Hell. Nothing else is needed.' Thus while 



36 STAGE DECOBATION 

this stage must have been very simple in 
regard to setting, a distinct advance is noted 
beyond the scenery of the purely liturgical 
drama. 

The fragment of the Resurrection duSauveur la 
of the thirteenth century shows a setting, indi- 
cated by the prologue, which points to one level. 
The crucifix, the tomb, and a jail are to be 
made ready first. The following lines refer to 
Heaven and Hell: 

Enfer seit mis de cele part, 
Es mansions de l'altre part, 
E puis le ciel; 

If these lines are to be trusted, the conclusion 
will be reached that neither was Heaven above 
the rest of the stage nor was Hell below it. This 
would be the natural interpretation of the pas- 
sage, while to conclude that Heaven was above 
in this setting is to interpret the passage in 
terms of the stage in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries. Although the Adam play may show 
the beginning of the two-storied stage, yet the 
usual stage of the early plays is on one level, 
and there is nothing to show that the setting 

la Monmerque et Michel, op. cit. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 37 

of this Resurrection departed from this custom. 
If the play was produced at all, it may have 
been inconvenient to build a two-storied stage, 
especially if it was given in a church. Even 
though a reference in a play of this period might 
be found which would give proof of a scene in 
Heaven above the stage, it would still seem that 
the author of this fragment had followed the 
stage setting of the liturgical drama, perhaps 
because he had seen no other style of setting or 
possibly for reasons of convenience. 

Galilee is supposed to be en mi la place. It 
is a question whether there was any scenery to 
mark the place. One is inclined to believe that 
the location of the country is being pointed out 
by the person who recited the prologue; and 
that there was no particular scene, as was the 
case in the Massacre des innocents, when the 
three kings went "just as if from their own 
kingdom." The house at Emmaus is shown, 
however; but there are merely seats for Pilate, 
Caiaphas, Joseph of Arimathea, Mcodemus, 
the Jews,, the disciples, the three Marys. 
Whether the retainers sat or stood about Pilate 
is not clear. At any rate the number of scenes 
is very small, Heaven, Hell, the jail, the house 



38 STAGE DECORATION 

at Emmaus, the cross, and the tomb being the 
real scenery, and probably all on one level. 

The scenery of the Jeu de Saint Nicolas, 2 
written by Jean Bodel early in the thirteenth 
century, was surely placed on one elevation, since 
neither Heaven nor Hell was represented. 
Whether the angel who appeared to the army 
was above it or not, is of little consequence. 
All information in regard to the appearance of 
the stage of this play must be gained from the 
lines alone. Petit de Julleville claims to have 
noted thirty-eight changes of the place of ac- 
tion ; but this has nothing to do with the amount 
of scenery used. 

One of the most important scenes is in the 
palace of the king, where the king naturally 
would be seated on a throne. The idol Tervagan 
is seen in the palace ; but it was represented by 
a living actor since it speaks. Later the treas- 
ure is exposed, probably within the same 
scenery. An image of Saint Nicholas rests 
upon the treasure. The interior and the ex- 
terior of a prison were also necessary to the 
action. As for the tavern, an exterior was 
surely visible. Thus there were three maisons, 

8 Monmerque et Michel, op. cit. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 39 

but there was probably no special setting to 
mark the houses of the emirs, who are merely 
summoned from their place on the stage in 
very short scenes. Also the two camps of the 
armies and the battlefield would not require a 
setting. The prologue gives evidence of a hut 
or cabin when it speaks of the worthy man who 
is found en une manoque. Thus the stage may 
be conceived as set with four pieces of scenery : 
the palace, prison, tavern, and hut, all of which 
probably showed both an interior and an 
exterior. 

The Miracle de TheopJiile by Rutebeuf pre- 
sents difficulties which make it impossible to 
reconstruct the exact number of scenes used. 
Even if the rule be applied that scenery which 
is necessary to the action was shown, yet the 
lines are in some cases rather obscure. That 
the stage was decorated by at least one maison 
is proved by the direction: Ici se repent Theo- 
philes et vient a une chapele de Nostre Dame. 
The line Vez ci vostre ostel et le mien points 
to a second maison used as the bishop's house. 
This may have been merely a chair; but as a 
general rule scenery was used for the house of 
a person who was important to the action and 



40 STAGE DECOEATION 

before or within whose house or palace much of 
the action took place. The custom being to set 
the stage with several maisons, it would be 
natural to use scenery for the house of the 
bishop, especially at this period in the develop- 
ment of stage setting, when realism was grow- 
ing. 

Whether the sorcerer had a separate house 
or not is an open question. The conjuring up 
of Satan was evidently a scene designed to 
interest the eyes of the spectators, but it is 
difficult to decide whether that interest was 
augmented by the use of scenery. Also the 
place that Satan occupied on the stage is re- 
ferred to by Notre Dame in the line: Sathan, 
Sathan, es tu en serve f This may be a mere 
summoning, or it may have been a scene repre- 
senting Hell in a way. But since the lines are 
so indefinite in this play, it may be assumed 
that there was no spectacular scene in Hell 
such as is found on the stage two hundred years 
later. The stage in any case showed few 
scenes, whether this conjectured scenery ap- 
peared or not. It is again to be noted that 
Heaven is not represented. 

The profane stage at this period evidently 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 41 

did not differ greatly in appearance from the 
stage of these semi-religions plays, if the evi- 
dence gained from the plays of Adam de la 
Hale may be trusted. Again the setting must 
be reconstructed from the lines; bnt as Petit 
de Julleville says, these plays " demand always 
action and stage setting." A bower of foliage 
is constructed in the Jeu de la Feuillee when 
the fairies enter; and a table is set before a 
tavern and the interior is implied in the line: 
Oue, il est chaiens. As for the Wheel of For- 
tune, there is no doubt but that it was visible, 
otherwise the lines referring to it would be in- 
comprehensible to the spectators, and they are 
far too vivid not to apply to a real piece of 
scenery. 

Robin et Marion, produced first before the 
court of Naples in 1283 and later in France, 
demands a pastoral scene with bushes and 
flowers, there being many direct references to 
such scenery. There is also one reference to 
the door of a maison in Ouvrez-moi tost Vuis. 
The phrase Vers ceste riviere also implies 
scenery, although the river was not necessary 
to the action and may have been behind the 
scenes. At any rate, the stage of these two 



42 STAGE DECOEATION 

plays was set in a simple manner, while the 
Jeu du Pelerin does not require any setting. 

The only other profane play of this period is 
the early form of the farce of the Gargon et 
l' Aveugle, 3 dated between 1266 and 1290. The 
action of the play needs one scene represent- 
ing the house of the Aveugle. The lines read 
as follows: 

Je vorroie ore estre en maison ; 
Quant tu viens a .j. grant perron 
Deus maisons de la siet mes mes. 

The two characters arrive before the house, 
and the Gargon says: 

Sire, je i sui, or vous souffres, 
Jou verrai Puis oii siet le clinkes. 

The Aveugle replies: 

Hannet, une fuelle de venke 
A sor le suell ou elle siet. 

All this might be rhetorical were it not for the 
fact that the house is entered — Sire, ens estes — 
and the blind man is left there by the boy. As 
soon as a piece of scenery is necessary to the 
8 Paul Meyer, Jahrbuch fur romanische und englische 
p. 163. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 43 

action, one may be reasonably sure that it was 
represented. 

The stage of the thirteenth century was by 
no means complicated. Admitting all possible 
scenes, the number of maisons was small. The 
scenery itself appears to have been exact but 
not elaborate in comparison with what it will 
become later. The scene in Hell plays an in- 
significant part, if the extant plays may be 
taken as examples of a general rule. The 
Adam play may show a double elevation for the 
stage; but a two-storied stage with a decorated 
scene in Heaven can hardly be regarded as the 
characteristic setting of the period. At least 
the majority of the stages seem to have been 
set on one level ; and though a two-storied stage 
may have existed at this time, it is not the 
only type. 



CHAPTEE III 

Tableaux and Pantomimes. Great Variety of Scenes. 
Use of Different Levels. Setting of an Early Provencal 
Play. Influence of the Tableaux and Pantomimes. 

Texts belonging to the first half of the four- 
teenth century are lacking; but reports of 
plays given in pantomime have preserved de- 
scriptions of elaborate settings showing that 
scenery has become a very important element in 
arousing interest in the drama. The first rec- 
ord of the Passion Play is in the form of pan- 
tomime at the celebrations which Philippe le 
Bel gave in 1313. It is possible that the Pas- 
sion was not given in its spoken form until 
after it had appeared as a series of tableaux; 
but it is not to be inferred that the only theat- 
rical representations of this period were without 
words. Spoken drama had developed too far 
to fall into disuse for a period of a hundred 
years; and the very presence of pantomimes, 
both comic and serious, is evidence of the grow- 
ing popularity of the drama. Undoubtedly, 
miracle plays, such as those already described, 
44 



IN EKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 45 

and comedies were being produced by actors 
who spoke their lines. The liturgical drama 
also continued to be sung at appropriate seasons. 
The existence of the Miracle de Theopliile in 
the thirteenth century and the Miracles de 
Notre Dame in the latter half of the fourteenth 
century, plays so similar in form and spirit, 
is evidence enough that such dramas were being 
produced throughout the earlier half of the 
fourteenth century. 

Godefroy de Paris in his Chronique metrique 
gives a detailed description of the scenes pre- 
pared by Philippe le Bel in 1313. There were 
both comic and religious tableaux, for as he 
says: 

La vit-on Dieu sa mere rire; 

Renard, fisicien et mire (1. 5329-5330 ).* 

Notre Dame is represented with the Three 
Kings of Couloigne, as they are curiously desig- 
nated. There are ninety angels in Paradise. 
Thus the scene must have been large ; while the 
chronicler claims that there were more than a 
hundred devils in a black and evil-smelling 
Hell where souls were seen tormented. The 
1 Edition Buchon. 



46 STAGE DECOEATION 

interior of Hell was therefore visible and was 
not merely called up before the mind's eye by 
an entrance in the shape of a dragon's head. 
On Wednesday, the account continues, a wind 
blew down the curtains but everything was soon 
re-arranged. Then : 

Nostre Seignor au jugement 
I fu, et le suscitement. 
La fu le tornai des enfans. 

Christ and the apostles saying their pater- 
nosters, the massacre of the innocents, the 
martyrdom of St. John, Herod and Caiaphas, 
Et renard chanter une espitre, were also seen. 
The chronicle implies that the comic and re- 
ligious scenes were juxtaposed, but this may 
be a mere carelessness in style. The author 
continues : 

Crois et flos, et Hersent qui file; 
Et d'aultre part Adam et Eve; 
Et Pilate, qui ses mains leve; 
Eois a, feve, et hommes sauvages 
Qui menoi'ent grands rigolages. 

This was done by the weavers while the coir- 
roiers represented 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 47 

La vie de Renart sans faille, 
Qui menjoit et poucins et paille; 
Mestre Renart i f u evesque 
Veu, et pape, et arcevesque; 
Renart i fu en toute guise, 
Si com sa vie le devise: 
En biere, en crois et en cencier, 
Et en maintes guises daneier. 
En blanches chemises ribaus 

I vit-on, lies et gais et baus. 
Les rousigniax, les papegais 
Ouist-on chanter de cuers gais. 
Es hales estoit le bois clos, 
Ou maint conin estoit enclos; 
C'estoit privee sauvagine, 

A cui Pen batoit bien Peschine. 
Panunciaus, gonfanons, banieres, 
Estrumens de maintes manieres 
Vit-on la, et chastiax et tours; 
Dames caroler de biax tours. 

II fut trois jours en la semaine, 
Serainnes, cyves et lyons, 
Liepars, et maintes fictions, 

Que borjois firent, por estrainne, 
Par Paris toute la semaine. 
La furent borgoises parees, 
Balans et dansans regardees. 

Thus almost every kind of a spectacle was 
offered during these days, and we see the comic 



48 STAGE DECOEATION 

and religious scenes holding their places side 
by side. The Passion Play, thus represented 
in the open air, would differ little from the 
spoken Passions of the fifteenth century such as 
that given at Angers. Both productions would 
have a large stage ; and undoubtedly the scenery 
of the pantomime influenced the drama in dia- 
logue, which was produced in the open air, in re- 
gard both to the size and the setting of the stage. 
There is no evidence of different levels used in 
this setting, although both Heaven and Hell 
were represented. The scenes were evidently 
set separately, and therefore the scheme of ele- 
vation would not be carried out. The same 
conditions seem to have existed later in street 
mysteries, 2 and the stage of the Resurrection of 
the thirteenth century has already been men- 
tioned as probably being on one elevation. 
Such a procedure may well have sprung from 
the fact that with scenes in Heaven and Hell 
set separately, say with a street intervening 
or at the opposite end of a market place as at 
Angers, the effect of different elevations would 
be lost. 

Similar settings were shown in 1389 at the 
3 See p. 118, Mystere de la Passion given at Bouen. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 49 

entrance of Isabeau de Baviere into Paris. At 
the first gate of Saint-Denis there was ung ciel 
tout estelle, et dedens ce ciel jeunes enffans ap- 
pareillies et mis en ordonnance d'angles . . . 
et estoit le ciel armoie tres-richement des armes 
de France et de Baviere. . . . There was also 
an historical scene on another scaffolding where 
estoit ordonne le Pas-Salhadin, et tons fais de 
personnages, les chrestiens d'une part, et les 
Sarrazins d'aultre part. At the second gate 
of Saint-Denis there was a second ciel nue et 
estelle tres richement, and within sat the 
Trinity and choir boys singing as angels. As 
the queen passed in her litter, Paradise 
opened and two angels came from above and 
placed a crown on her head. This, then, is an 
attempt at realism by placing Heaven, not above 
the level of the stage, for it is a separate scene, 
but at least above the street where the proces- 
sion passed, in order to heighten the effect of 
the action. The lords and ladies next found 
a scaffolding convert de draps de Tiaultes lices et 
encourtine en maniere d'une chambre within 
which men were playing an organ. 

The most elaborate scene was set at the gate 
of the Chatelet, where there was ung chastel 
4 



50 STAGE DECOEATION 

ouvre et charpente de hois et de garites . . . et 
Id avoit a chascun des crestiaulx ung Jiomme 
d'armes arme de toutes pieces, et sur ce chasiel 
ung lit pare, ordonne et encourtine aussi riche- 
ment de toutes choses . . . et estoit ce lit ap- 
pelle le lit de Justice; et la en ce lit par figure et 
par personnage se gesoit Madame saint e Anne. 
The bed was guarded bj twelve maidens with 
naked swords. Also there was a forest scene, 
for the account continues: Ou plain de ce 
chastel qui estoit contenant grant espace avoit 
une garenne et grant foison de ramee. s Within 
this scene there were rabbits and birds and a 
white deer. A lion and eagle were supposed to 
issue from the woods. 

These pantomimes show that scenery was 
enjoyed for itself alone even during the four- 
teenth century, and they are indicative of the 
relative grandeur of the settings which came in 
the following centuries. Such scenes were also 
produced in the contemporary Miracles de 
Notre Dame and the Passion of the Ste. Gene- 
vieve collection; but undoubtedly the settings 
were greatly reduced in size and beauty, for 
the Puy de Notre Dame or the Confrerie de la 
8 The account is taken from Froissart. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 51 

Passion would have neither the space in an in- 
closed theater nor the money necessary to dupli- 
cate such scenery. 

The Provencal Marty re de Saint e Agnes, 4 
which has been dated between the last years of 
the thirteenth century and the first years of 
the fourteenth, shows a setting which combines 
both scenery and chairs. Heaven is repre- 
sented, for the soul of Saint Agnes is brought 
before God; but there is nothing in the direc- 
tions or the lines to indicate the position or 
decoration of the scene. The interior of Hell 
is shown, for the devils take the soul of the 
Saint and boil it in a cauldron in Hell. This 
action of course was visible. Neither Heaven 
nor Hell is described as carefully as the lupanar; 
and these two scenes were perhaps rather un- 
important, as far as setting is concerned. The 
lupanar, however, could be entered, and the bed 
of Saint Agnes was shown within. This scene 
was evidently no improvised, summary setting 
which left much to the imagination. The Pre- 
fect, on the other hand, is seated in cathedra 
sua, as was the custom. The direction Modo 

* See Annales de la Societe des Lettres, Sciences, et 
Arts des Alpes-maritimes, vol. IV, 1877, Nice. 



52 STAGE DECOEATION 

recedunt omnes Romani in castellum suum is 
quite definite and there is little reason for 
doubting that this scene and the castellum of 
Sempronius were set. The number of scenes 
was small ; but this play proves that such places 
as the lupanar were set at the beginning of the 
fourteenth century. Thus one has little hesi- 
tation in believing that such scenes were also 
decorated later in the century in plays like the 
Miracles de Notre Dame, although practically 
all of the stage directions are lost to us. 

Even from these meagre data it is seen that 
the art of stage decoration was developing in 
the fourteenth century. The pantomimes and 
tableaux which took place at the entrances of 
kings and queens, undoubtedly influenced the 
open air mysteries and made their stage larger 
and more beautiful. In reality, an open air 
mystery must have been mere pantomime to the 
majority of spectators. The germ of such a 
spectacle, on so vast a scale, lies in just such 
scenes as those described above. In regard to 
the closed theatre, the record of which probably 
begins with the Miracles de Notre Dame, the 
influence of the pantomimes would naturally be 
lessened, just in proportion to the difference 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 53 

existing between the two forms of drama and 
their stages. A strict line of demarcation must 
be drawn between the open air stage, which in- 
creased to great dimensions and finally fell into 
disuse, and the inclosed stage, whose history can 
be traced to the present day. 



CHAPTEK IV 

Miracles de Notre Dame. Their Treatment of the 
Hell Scene. Their Stage of Two Levels. Setting of 
Heaven not Important. Scenes on Earth. Number of 
Scenes. 

The Miracles de Notre Dame belong to the 
fourteenth century. They are very important 
in the history of the French stage. Emile Roy, 
indeed, believes that " in all probability the seat 
of the Puy Notre Dame, the hall where it gave 
its representations, was in the neighborhood of 
the Holies, that is to say, not far from that 
Hopital de la Trinite where another celebrated 
confrerie was to play the Passion later." * 
Starting at this point, therefore, it is possible 
to follow the practically uninterrupted develop- 
ment of the theater in Paris. While theatrical 
activities were by no means confined to Paris, 
yet the stage under a roof in the city that finally 
became the center of art, is of more importance 

1 Koy, Etudes sur le theatre f rancais du XIV e au XVP 
siecles, Paris, 1902, eh. 6. The date of the founding 
of this Puy is given by Eoy as about 1391. 
54 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 55 

than the great open air shows on temporary 
stages in the provinces. This hall in which the 
Miracles de Notre Dame were given is a pre- 
cursor of the Hotel de Bourgogne, which brings 
us down to comparatively modern times. 

What, then, was the stage setting of the 
Miracles de Notre Dame f Unfortunately there 
are few stage directions; and with the excep- 
tion of Roy, who has discussed some points of 
the mise-en-scene though not the entire setting, 
writers on the subject have given up the task 
of reconstructing the scenery of these plays. 
The problem is not easy to solve; but when 
stage directions are lacking, the lines them- 
selves must be made to furnish the needed 
evidence. This is a dangerous proceeding, but 
since it is the only means at present of throwing 
light upon the scenes of these plays, the method 
must be employed for want of a better one. 

Petit de Julleville has said that perhaps 
there was little or no scenery ; thus all mention 
of rooms, palaces, etc., would be rhetorical. 
But this does not seem possible, for the Middle 
Ages in France bear witness to a strangely 
careful and complicated stage setting wherever 
stage directions are found. The lack of direc- 



56 STAGE DECOEATION 

tions for scenery in these plays may well have 
been an omission from the manuscript rather 
than an indication of the absence of scenery — 
a lack which would have been remarkable. It 
could hardly be possible that, in such an age of 
realistic setting, forty plays, so full of action 
and so dependent on scenery, should have been 
produced with little or no stage decoration. 
There is also one rubric in the thirty-first 
Miracle (line 614) which says, referring evi- 
dently to a palace : Ycy va le roi en sale. This 
could not mean that the king enters on the stage 
or in the hall where the play was being given, 
since the direction occurs in the middle of the 
king's speech. Thus the word sale means a 
piece of scenery representing a palace. In the 
thirty-sixth Miracle is found the direction : Ici 
fait un po de pose et vient a sa maison. There 
can be no doubt about the word maison. It is 
the common word for scenery. Thus the many 
references to scenes of different kinds could not 
all have been rhetorical. It is not possible to 
believe that when windows and doors which 
open and close were mentioned, there was noth- 
ing but the empty air to which the actors 
pointed. It must be taken into consideration 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 57 

that one company of actors was giving these 
plays and the same piece of scenery could be 
used again and again. Thus an examination of 
passages in different plays in which references 
are made to a church or a prison will serve to 
give material for reconstructing this or that 
scene. 

The setting representing Hell has always 
been considered an important characteristic of 
the stage of the Middle Ages; but it seems to 
have been unimportant in the Miracles de Notre 
Dame. In Miracle number one the devils ap- 
pear, but not a word about Hell is spoken. 
Even when they leave, the lines read : 

570 Alons mant, 

Car nous avons ailleurs a faire. 



1386. Alons men sanz faire demour. 

Since Hell is not needed, there is no reason for 
believing that it was represented either in this 
play or in the one which follows it in the manu- 
script, for not even the devils appear in the 
second Miracle. 

When the devils enter in the next Miracle the 
lines (882 ff.) show plainly that they are sup- 



58 STAGE DECOEATION 

posed to meet on neutral ground before the 
archdeacon. When they have the soul for 
which they have come, they say that they will 
carry it into Hell: 

1031. Or Pi menons donques bonne erre, 
Et puis si venrons son corps querre 
Qui la se gist. 

As soon as their intention is avowed, there 
is no line which shows them carrying it out. 
Instead, there is a short scene between mortals 
which immediately follows this speech. Then 
the devil says : 

1070. Sathan, puis qu'en nostre meurjoye 
Celle mesehant ame avons mis. 

Thus the action is related, or is " messengered," 
as is said of classic tragedy. Where one would 
expect lines showing the action, were it visible, 
a scene is interpolated evidently in order to 
bridge the gap while the devils carry the soul 
off the stage. ®ne only needs to read these 
Miracles to see how significant is the absence 
of lines describing an action, for in all such 
plays the lines are a running commentary on 
the action, which would soon become unintel- 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 59 

ligible were this not the case. When the devils 
come back for the body, they load it into a 
wheelbarrow and say: 

1084. Alons ment, grant bruit demenant, 
Par ceste voie. 

But the body is saved even before they reach the 
Hell " behind the scenes/ 7 for it was probably 
not visible. 

The devil appears in the sixth Miracle to St. 
Jehan Crisothomes when he is praying. This 
scene being finished the devil leaves, saying 
(line 720) : Car se je maintenant rmfen vols. 
'No mention of Hell is made. These oft-recur- 
ring lines point to a real exit — a rare proceed- 
ing in medieval drama, though perhaps made 
necessary in this case on account of limited 
stage area. The devil enters later and says 
that the saint will be taken to Hell, but he 
simply throws a letter into the hall of the 
king and passes on. That is the extent of his 
role. Surely no scene of Hell was represented. 
The role of the devils in the ninth Miracle is 
even shorter. They appear in the desert and 
beat St. William. Then they leave, as line 
1177, Vien fen, shows us. Hell is not men- 
tioned or needed. 



60 STAGE DECOKATION 

The devil has only two speeches, in the 
twelfth Miracle, of about thirty lines in all. 
There is no possibility of Hell being repre- 
sented. The devil merely regrets that his prey 
is escaping him. 

In the thirteenth Miracle the devil says : 

348. Alons nous en sanz demouree 
En enfer. 

But there is no line which even intimates that 
the spectators were supposed to see the devils 
reach Hell. Their scene simply finishes with 
these lines, which seem to mark an exit. They 
return to take the emperor to their abode, as 
their final line 686, L'en entrainnons, plainly 
says. But that is all. We do not see him put 
into Hell. Again the line serves for a real or 
an assumed exit. !N"o line suggests special 
scenery. 

The fourteenth Miracle is entitled " un 
miracle de Nostre Dame d'un prevost que a la 
requeste de saint Prist Nostre Dame delivra de 
purgatoire." In this play Purgatory is repre- 
sented, and also has some of the attributes of 
Hell. The Archediacre and Estienne are placed 
there, and since they carry on a conversation 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 61 

while in it, the interior must have been seen. 
Such a line as Et ce feu trop ardent et chaut 
(line 481) and others are evidence of the repre- 
sentation of flames. Thus it might well be a 
scene in Hell itself, although it is called 
Purgatory. 

The devils appear in the sixteenth Miracle; 
but it would be vain to attempt to prove that 
Hell was represented, since it has nothing to 
do with the story. The devils merely play the 
usual role of tempters; and when they leave, 
nothing is said of their returning to Hell. The 
devil's last word when he leaves the pope is 
(line 1235) : Dolent m'en vois. The scene then 
continues before the pope. 

In number twenty-five the devils appear in 
order to carry off the souls of the emperor and 
the jailor. The following lines are significant: 

1338. Ensemble les fera bon mettre; 
Aussi sont il d'une convine. 
Avant! avec moi t'achemine 
Ysnellment. 

This is the devils' final word. The play closes 
after three short speeches. The above-cited 
lines point to a real or assumed taking of the 



62 STAGE DECOEATION 

souls off the stage. They almost preclude even 
the possibility of a Hell being shown, for when 
a Hell was represented torture scenes were com- 
mon, and much, instead of little, was made of 
such an opportunity. But in this case one can 
almost see the devils carrying their burden 
away. If they did not do this, but placed the 
souls in Hell and tormented them, why do these 
lines occur and these alone? 

Miracle number thirty-six shows the devils 
at the bed-side of the sick merchant and later 
arguing their case before God. Instead of 
going back to Hell when they leave, we know 
from lines 594 ff. that they are supposed to go 
to the rue du Piastre, which must have been 
behind the scenes, since the scene which is sug- 
gested does not take place before the eyes of the 
spectators. Thus it would be impossible to con- 
ceive a Hell shown in this play. 

Out of the forty plays of this collection there 
are thirty in which devils do not appear and 
therefore there is no possibility of a scene in 
Hell. Of the ten remaining plays in which 
such a scene might have been expected, in nine 
Hell was either behind the scenes or not re- 
quired at all. The conclusion is that the Mira- 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 63 

cles de Notre Dame were plays in which Hell 
was of no importance in regard to the setting. 
This is evidence in favor of the theory we are 
trying to establish, that in this period of the 
development of the stage decoration, Hell was 
not represented as a general rule. In these 
productions, with one exception, there is no 
smoke escaping, no infernal din within a yawn- 
ing dragon's mouth, although the lines show 
once that the devils make an uproar on the 
stage (No. 3, lines 1084 ff.). The setting of 
Hell and the use of devils seem to have lost in 
importance since the Adam play. The devils 
are not seen running about and cutting up ca- 
pers among the spectators; they are only in- 
troduced when their presence is necessary to 
the story. They play their legitimate part and 
then, if we can believe the lines, they leave the 
stage. Their roles are generally short and often 
insignificant in comparison to the others. The 
word enfer occurs very rarely. The gates are 
only mentioned once, and this is but a passing 
reference which does not imply scenery. Fi- 
nally, up to this point, there is no evidence of 
the far-famed and somewhat overworked drag- 
on's head. It is also significant that even though 



64 STAGE DECOEATION 

devils are in these plays, Hell does not usually 
appear. It hardly seems possible, therefore, 
that the producers of these plays were accus- 
tomed to seeing mysteries in which there was 
a realistic representation of Hell with its drag- 
on's head, smoke, and frightful din. 

The fourteenth Miracle, in which Purgatory 
is represented, is the one exception; for the 
scene, though called Purgatory, resembles Hell 
in the fact that the souls were burned. Yet 
even if it be granted that a scene resembling 
the setting of Hell appeared on this stage of 
one out of forty plays, none of the conclusions 
is in any way shaken. As is seen by the above- 
cited title of the Miracle, a scene in Purgatory 
is demanded. The play could hardly exist 
without this scene. Therefore when such set- 
tings were necessary they could be constructed. 
It was not because of any difficulty in mounting 
such scenes that they were generally lacking. 
The reason would seem to be that the impor- 
tance of such scenery in arousing interest had 
not yet impressed itself on the producers of 
these plays. The Miracles de Notre Dame — 
plays of the fourteenth century — are evidence 
in favor of the theory that Hell played an un- 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 65 

important part in the medieval stage up to the 
fifteenth century, and that its careful setting 
and especially the setting of the entrance in the 
shape of a dragon's head, belong to a much 
later period than has been believed heretofore. 
For all but one of these plays the stage must 
have consisted of two levels : Heaven and Earth. 
It is true that in this play line 593 reads : Q'en 
purgatoire est descenduz. It is a question 
whether the realism went so far as to place the 
scene of Purgatory on a lower level in the set- 
ting corresponding to the evident idea of the 
author. The following lines also refer to the 
conception of Purgatory. 

910. Las! Qui est ce qui de ce val 
Meschant, chetif, lait et hideux, 
Puant, orrible et tenebreux 
Me veult oster? 

Eo doubt the place was dark and partook of the 
nature indicated by some of these adjectives; 
and it may well have been on a lower level than 
the rest of the scenes, for the realism of the 
medieval setting is always remarkable. In any 
case it must be borne in mind that this scene 
is an exception as far as these plays are con- 
5 



66 STAGE DECOEATION 

cerned; and the general rule was a stage of 
two levels. 

The decoration of Heaven was evidently not 
elaborate. It plays a comparatively unimpor- 
tant part in the setting. The scene was surely 
placed above the stage proper. Evidence of 
this is found in such lines spoken in Heaven as : 
en une chappelle \\ La dessoubz (No. 17, line 
1130-1). Descendez a terre (No. 36, line 
963). On the other hand there are the corre- 
sponding lines spoken on Earth: Balons nous 
ent, mesnie doulce \ \ Es cieulx la sus (No. 6, 
lines 1383-4). 2 This arrangement also makes 
its appearance about this time in the Miracles 
de Ste. Genevieve. 3 The two levels were un- 
doubtedly connected by stairs, since the angels 
pass up and down. 

God was seated on a throne in Heaven, as is 
shown by the line Car il est ou Tiault trone 
assis (No. 3, line 800), and by Bieu, qui est 
lassus ou throsne (Miracle No. 35, line 
157). As for the angels, many speeches of 
Notre Dame begin "sus"; but this word may 

2 Such references may be easily found in almost any 
of these plays. 
8 See p. 85ff. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 67 

mean "up" only in the sense of "let us go." 
However, the line Mes amis, levez sus, levez 
(No. 13, line 1500) spoken to the angels 
would show that they also were sitting. As 
soon as Notre Dame is on Earth in the four- 
teenth Miracle she is seated, as she says, en 
ceste chaiere (line 840). This is a common 
action and was probably done to show respect 
and lend dignity to the character. We not only 
find a chair placed for Notre Dame or God 
when either comes to Earth, noted in the lines, 
but also in Miracle No. 36 we find the action 
implied by the lines is proved by a stage direc- 
tion. Line 348 reads: Alez m'un siege la jus 
mettre. Then the stage direction follows: Ici 
viennent chantant, et quant Diex est assis et 
Notre Dame j le tiers ange va au malade et dit. 
Thus taking into consideration that the oft-re- 
curring " sus " is sometimes made entirely clear 
by the word "levez" also that a chair was 
placed on Earth for divine characters, and that 
it was the custom to have God and the angels 
seated in later plays, finally that we have direct 
references to the hault throsne of God, it may be 
concluded that in these miracles God sat upon 
a throne surrounded by his angels, who were 



68 STAGE DECOKATION 

also seated, in a Heaven raised on a level above 
that of Earth. 

This is all the information which can be 
gained of the position and setting of Heaven; 
but the very fact that the lines give so few 
details is evidence that Heaven, as well as Hell, 
was relatively unimportant in the setting of 
these plays and did not dominate the scene as 
it did in the great mysteries of a later date. 
The scenes in Heaven are very short and with- 
out much importance as far as the action is 
concerned. They consist of only a few lines in 
which God or Notre Dame bids one or the other 
to descend with the angels to Earth. It is on 
Earth that the occupants of Heaven play their 
real parts and speak the most of their lines. 
Therefore it is natural that the scenery for 
Heaven should be unimportant in these semi- 
profane plays, for these Miracles are a long 
step from the religious drama in which the 
setting of Heaven attracted such attention. The 
Miracles hold a middle ground between the re- 
ligious and the profane drama, in regard to 
both subject matter and stage decoration. The 
scene of the profane drama was on one level. 
The scene of the religious drama was at least on 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 69 

two and perhaps on three levels. It showed the 
beauties of Heaven and the horrors of Hell. 
In these plays Heaven is only an episode in the 
production, while Hell is hardly represented at 
all. The appearance and effect of such a stage 
inclosed in a hall must have been very different 
from the stage of the open air mystery. But 
this stage is none the less important as a type, 
although it may be less of a curiosity to the 
modern mind than the great spectacles which 
were to come ; for take away the Heaven of the 
Miracles de Notre Dame and the stage will re- 
semble very closely the setting which Hardy 
found and accepted and which existed in the 
sixteenth century. 

The scenes on Earth, where the real drama 
was acted, were quite carefully set. As has 
been said, the different scenes in these plays 
could be used again and again ; and comparison 
of the several references to a common scene will 
serve to reconstruct it with comparative ex- 
actness. 

The scene of the church occurs in twenty of 
the plays, and it must have been carefully set. 
The interior was visible, since in the fortieth 
Miracle we find the line 1730, Qu'en ceste eglise 



70 STAGE DECOEATION 

ci Vamaines. Also line 1813, Lez cest autel, 
shows there was an altar within the church. 
This altar sometimes represents merely a shrine. 
In many plays a sermon is given, and in these 
miracles a reference to a pulpit or eschaffaut 
is found upon which the preacher stood and 
gave the sermon. Thus in "No. 13, lines 384-5 : 

Car nostre evesque en l'eschafaut 
Voy ja monte qui le fera. 

The sermon is listened to by the characters in 
the play. In the twelfth Miracle line 31 says: 
Voulentiers a Veglise iray. This is followed 
out; and then, as lines 50-55 inform us, they 
all sit down and listen to the sermon. There- 
fore in addition to the altar there were places 
to sit down — there are references to this fact 
throughout the plays — and also a pulpit. There 
was scenery for a chapel distinct from that of 
the church, since in the seventeenth Miracle 
both the church and the chapel are needed, and 
in the thirty-third Miracle the hermit mentions 
his chapel, saying (line 1228) : En ma chappelle 
rrien iray. In the sixteenth Miracle a chapel 
is built on the stage; and when it is finished 
the following lines show it completed : 



IN EBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 71 

1581. Fondee est ferme conme tour 
lei endroit ceste chappelle. 

Scenery for a hermitage is demanded in 
eleven Miracles, and the thirty-third play gives 
evidence that it must have heen well worked 
out, since line 1215, Vueil done quen ce lit 
vous couchiez, shows an interior and a bed. 
The tenth Miracle says of the hermit's cell 
(lines 148-9) : 

Avis m'est que le voy seoir, 
Le chief hors de sa fenestrelle. 

It does not seem to be going too far in the way 
of conjecture to suppose a window from the 
direct reference to one in the lines. It must 
always be kept in mind that the stage setting 
of the Middle Ages was exact from the point of 
view that the stage directors tried to represent 
everything, and everything at once. One is far 
from claiming modern exactness for the setting 
of these plays ; but judging from the care with 
which scenes were set which are clearly de- 
scribed by the stage directions, one does not 
hesitate to reconstruct the small hermitage with 
its inferior visible, with a bed, when necessary, 
and a window. There is a miniature in the 



72 STAGE DECOEATION 

manuscript which shows just such a cell, and 
the interior is made visible by removing the 
wall which would face the audience. The pos- 
sibility of the hermitage itself not existing and 
of references to it being rhetorical is entirely 
precluded by an action which takes place in 
the thirtieth Miracle. The hermitage is 
pointed out with a light in it; and afterward 
it is burnt to the ground during the action of 
this play. 

The hermitage is generally found in a forest ; 
and a forest scene is called for by the lines in 
ten of the plays, while in the thirty-seventh 
Miracle it is spoken of as an orchard. People 
are lost in the forest and there are far too many 
direct references to the scene to permit of the 
belief that it was not represented, especially 
in the Miracle de Berthe, where a great part of 
the action passes in a forest. As for the word 
deserte, it is used for the forest itself in this 
Miracle; but there are also references to a 
deserte in five other plays, and no doubt it was 
shown in some way. These two scenes would 
be easily improvised. 

The prison was a scene which was very often 
used. There are constant references to enter- 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 73 

ing it, and the characters speak from the in- 
terior, which was therefore visible. The twenty- 
fourth Miracle gives evidence of a door and 
window in line 376: 8a, sa! boutez vous par 
cest huis, and line 469: Egar! vezla une fe- 
nestra Line 273 of the thirty-second Miracle 
brings us to the conclusion that this door was 
no mere opening, for it can be locked : Cest huis 
a la clef fermeray. The lines which refer to 
doors, windows, and interiors are here given so 
much importance because, up to the present 
time, no one has attempted to show just how 
much scenery was used to represent these dif- 
ferent places. To judge from miniatures, 
although these must not be entirely trusted, a 
palace generally consisted merely of a canopy 
and a throne. Therefore the question arises as 
to how a prison was shown. Were there walls 
and doors for such a scene? These plays give 
evidence that such scenes were carefully set 
because the action needs such exactness. 

The piece of scenery representing an inn was 
frequently set. In the eighteenth Miracle 
Theodore says of the inn: Leens me fauldra 
hosteller (line 656). Supper is served on a 
table : Nous avons assez longuement Sis a table 



74 STAGE DECOEATION 

(line 740). If the action be followed, which is 
indicated by the lines, there must have been 
more than one room for the inn. The fille and 
the valet are in a separate room, and Theodore 
who is also at the inn summons the valet " de 
ceens" (line 844). The valet then says to the 
file: Cy ne puis, mamie, estre plus. Je vois 
la, sire (line 846). This, as well as the pre- 
ceding lines, is evidence that the interior of this 
second room was visible. There is also a third 
room for Theodore implied in the action, but it 
is not strictly necessary. It will be shown later 
that in some of the palaces more than one room 
is absolutely requisite. It is therefore not sur- 
prising that an inn with more than one room 
is found. In fact the possibility of an inn 
separated into three rooms must not be con- 
sidered as remote. In view of the system of 
multiple stage decoration it is extremely prob- 
able, for an inn of three rooms would be as 
easily arranged as three separated pieces of 
scenery. 

There is scenery required for an abbey in 
six of the Miracles. In the eighteenth a cell 
in the abbey is also shown apart from the rest 
of the scene. Theodore's cell is pointed out to 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 75 

him by the abbot : Si sera la en celle cele (line 
1391). Also Theodore takes the fils to his cell 
and he dies there. This is another case in which 
there must have been two compartments for the 
same scene. In the fortieth Miracle an altar is 
shown in the abbey (line 1121). 

In the plays of this collection which demand 
a more complicated setting a ship and a sea are 
needed. The ship occurs in Nos. 27, 29, 30, 
and 34. It surely appeared on the stage or else 
the following lines would be meaningless in the 
twenty-seventh miracle : 

1078. A celle roehe la menrons 

Qui est assez avant en mer. 



1090. Baudoin, vessel prest avez: 

Regardez. Touz quatre ens entrons 
Et d'y aler nous delivrons. 
Entrez ens, dame. 

They arrive at the rock in the sea. Thus the 
whole action, to be intelligible and not to be 
mere meaningless pantomime, must have been 
accompanied by scenery. 

Other scenes which are demanded are a stable, 
for the Miracle de la Nativite; sl stronghold, 
occurring in two plays; a tower, which can be 



76 STAGE DECOEATION 

opened and closed; springs, wells, and ditches, 
all of which it was quite possible and necessary 
to represent. As for the scenery of cities cor- 
responding to such lines as those which tell us 
the characters have arrived in Rome or Jeru- 
salem, it is difficult to decide whether any 
special scenery marked such places or not. If 
we follow the evidence of miniatures, we must 
conclude that a gate, perhaps marked with the 
name of the city, was shown. But it seems 
unnecessary to have such a device to show, for 
instance, that such and such a palace is in 
Rome. It is more probable that such lines 
were merely for the information of the audi- 
ence. Thus it is to be believed that cities were 
not formally represented, but that any maison 
or group of maisons naturally stood for any city 
where it was supposed to be. Even in the case 
of such scenes as the market place in Jerusa- 
lem the scene may well have been on neutral 
ground, for it must be remembered that neutral 
ground was necessary and very useful in the 
scheme of stage decoration. Roads and ways 
ought to be considered as neutral ground. 
Characters met and talked on it, and battles 
were fought there. Such places as the road to 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 77 

Jerusalem or to Egypt have been too often 4 
considered as distinct scenes and counted into 
the number of places to be represented. In 
reality they were definite places to the specta- 
tors, but seem to have been unmarked by special 
scenery. 

Another point in which exception must be 
taken to Petit de Julleville when one reckons the 
number of scenes of any play is in not neces- 
sarily assigning a maison to a character who is 
simply summoned. For, as far as the action is 
concerned, if not in reality, this character 
leaves the stage after the scene with the person 
to whom he has been summoned. There is no 
reason why such a character should have a 
maison provided; such a scene is not necessary 
to the action and any reference made to it seems 
to be rhetorical. Also, only in very few cases 
are such references found. Generally the 
words je le voy la occur, which being wholly 
indefinite must mean neutral ground. They 
merely point the person out to the audience. 
However, even if there was scenery for these 
characters, only one or two plays would be 
affected, and only one or two unimportant 
4 See Petit de Julleville, Les Mysteres, vol. 1, p. 105. 



78 STAGE DECOEATION 

maisons would be added. Thus the results of 
the investigations as a whole would not be 
affected. 

As to the ostels, palaces, and other maisons 
which were represented, they must have been 
as complete as the other scenes. In three of the 
later Miracles, Nos. 33, 34 and 39, we find a 
throne mentioned. Toy la en son throsne seoir 
(No. 33, line 1045) refers to the palace of the 
pope. In the thirty-ninth Miracle, Clothilde is 
seated on a throne and the arcevesque addresses 
her as follows : 

2230. De moy en si hault siege embatre, 
Dame, ne me requerez pas; 
De me seoir ici em bas 
Me doit souffire. 

As has already been shown, the chair or throne 
was a common setting from the time of the 
earliest liturgical plays. In this collection of 
plays there are frequent references to sitting 
down in these thrones. Therefore every maison 
in which there was a person of some rank prob- 
ably contained a throne on which he was seated 
in state. The king was surrounded by his re- 
tainers. The pope had guards, who stood at 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 79 

the gate of his, palace, as is shown in Miracle 
!N"o. 16: Ly lairay je passer la porte (line 
1098). Doors are mentioned frequently. The 
lines Je vol de cy la porte 1 1 Ouverte du manoir 
le roi (No. 29, lines 260-1) might be con- 
sidered as rhetorical if we had not already 
fonnd references to doors in other scenes, snch 
as that of the prison, which could not be rhe- 
torical. In the thirty-ninth Miracle evidence 
of a door in Clothilde's house is furnished by 
the line: Ce sac derrier cest huis ici (line 328). 
There are rooms which require a bed as a set- 
ting; and a room hung with draperies is neces- 
sary to the action in the thirty-first Miracle, in 
which occurs the line D'arriere ces courtines 
dame (line 347). Some of the houses must 
have been divided into more than one room, 
as was the case with the inn. As a rule, how- 
ever, only one room was needed. A table is 
often set for a meal, and the proof of this is 
found in one of the very few stage directions 
which are contained in these plays: Cy met 
on la table devant Vemperiere pour mengier 
(Miracle Eo. 25). 

There is great divergence in the number of 
maisons or real scenes needed for each play, 



80 STAGE DECOKATION 

but in no case does the amount of scenery re- 
quired become manifestly impossible for a stage 
in a ball. It is possible to estimate the number 
of scenes constructed for each play, although 
there may be a difference of opinion as to 
whether a certain maison, implied but not men- 
tioned by the lines, was shown or not. Yet this 
would not materially change the conclusions. 
It would simply mean that one or two plays 
would need one scene more or less. For in- 
stance, in the ninth Miracle there is no line 
referring directly to the house of the pope ; but 
since he is found seated on a throne in other 
plays, we can safely assume that he was found 
thus in this play. The same is true of scenes 
before a king. In the fifteenth Miracle the mid- 
wife is summoned from son hostel. This may 
or may not be rhetorical. It is not a scene 
which is needed. Also no scenery is indicated 
for a scene before a judge in this play, and 
probably none was shown; 5 but since in count- 
ing these scenes as represented we only have 
six scenes in all, the question as to how many 
scenes were shown in this play is of little con- 
sequence. It is in comparatively few plays 
B Cf. setting for Pathelin, p. 218. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 81 

that this question arises, and only those whose 
lines furnish full information in regard to the 
scenery will be used as examples of the stage 
of these plays. 

It is to be taken for granted that Heaven 
was always represented above the rest of the 
scenery in all these Miracles. The tenth 
Miracle is an example of a simple setting 
which consisted of a hermit's cell, a chapel, 
and a house. In the eleventh Miracle there is 
a hermit's cell, a wood, and a merchant's house. 
The fourteenth needs an altar, the house of the 
archdeacon, Purgatory, the pope's house, and a 
chair for Notre Dame when she visits Earth. 
The setting of the sixteenth Miracle is a church, 
the house of the penancier, the house of the 
pope, the house of the pope's mother, a chapel 
constructed during the play, and the house of the 
cure. The thirty-first Miracle needs two pal- 
aces, in one of which there are two rooms sepa- 
rated by curtains, a forest, a chapel and the 
house of Simon. The thirty-second presents 
a more complicated setting: a palace of two 
rooms, a forest, a prison, an inn, a house for the 
charbonnier, a temple or church, a boat on the 
sea, and the house of the tabellion. The thirty- 



82 STAGE DECOEATION 

third is also complicated and demands the house 
of Robert, the peasant's house, an abbey, a 
forest, the house of the duke (probably divided 
into two rooms), a hermitage with a chapel, the 
emperor's stronghold, and the pope's house. The 
thirty-seventh Miracle shows a church, a palace 
with a throne and a separate room, the temple 
in Jerusalem with an altar, a forest, a boat, an 
inn, Isabel's house, a prison, and the emperor's 
palace with two rooms. The setting of the 
thirty-ninth Miracle consists of two palaces (one 
of which has two rooms), a church, a fountain, 
Clothilde's house, and Gondebaut's house. The 
fortieth demands the house of Euphemion, the 
palace of Honorius, a room for Sabine, an 
abbey, a church, a boat, and the pope's house. 
In the latter Miracles there may have been one 
maison more or less needed by the whole play. 
A typical stage of these plays would show six 
or seven scenes, which is the number used by 
most of Hardy's plays. Such a stage could be 
easily set in a hall. The plays which needed 
eleven or twelve scenes would cause no trouble 
if mounted out of doors, but it is supposed that 
all of the Miracles de Notre Dame were given 
in an inclosed hall. If this is true, either the 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 83 

stage must have been larger than that of the 
Hopital de la Trinite or of the Hotel de Bour- 
gognej which were quite spacious; 6 or scenery 
may have been changed or renewed during 
the performance. At any rate an indoor 
stage in Paris with twelve scenes set simulta- 
neously is uncommon during the period in 
which we know that inclosed theaters existed. 
After 1402 the size of the stage of the Hopital 
de la Trinite makes that number of scenes im- 
possible; and this stage remained for over a 
century and a quarter. The rather large num- 
ber of scenes required- by some of these Miracles 
foreshadows the great out-door spectacles of the 
fifteenth century; but if any of these longer 
Miracles were given later in the Hopital de la 
Trinite or in a hall of like dimensions, either 
a part of the action was left out or scenery was 
changed. 

When given by the Puy de Notre Dame, how- 
ever, a large enough stage was probably pro- 
vided. What scenes were needed must have 
been set with care and exactness. Yet scenery 
has not yet reached that period in its develop- 
ment when it is used as a delight to the eye. 

8 See p. 192. 



84 STAGE DECOEATION 

It is an aid to the understanding of the action ; 
but except in the number of scenes there are 
few signs of the elaborateness which character- 
izes the later mysteries. Once a character 
says: Je voi merveilleuse clarte Descendre des 
cieulx la amont (Miracle !N"o. 13, lines 581-2), 
but such lines are rare. The productions of 
this Puy were not great spectacles. They 
began with simple plays accompanied by simple 
setting. There is a development, a step for- 
ward in complexity ; but the Miracles de Notre 
Dame mark a period of transition toward the 
great spectacular plays, while they also show a 
type of a simple stage decoration of few scenes 
which will continue to exist in the indoor 
theatres throughout the Middle Ages and the 
Renaissance. 7 

''Miracles de Notre Dame, Paris et Kobert. Paris, 
1876. (Soc. des ane. texts fr§s.) 



CHAPTEE V 

Miracles de Ste. Genevieve. Their Date and Place of 
Performance. Eesemblance to the Miracles de Notre 
Dame in Their Treatment of the Scene in Hell. Setting 
of the Nativite. The Passion. The 'Resurrection. 

The Miracles contained in the Jubinal publi- 
cation of the manuscript of Ste. Genevieve have 
also been made the subject of investigations car- 
ried on by Roy. Since the repertoire of this 
collection corresponds to that of the Confrerie 
de la Passion as stated in their famous lettres 
patentes of 1402, he believes that these plays 
are the ones mentioned when this body is au- 
thorized to faire et jouer quelque Mistere que 
ce soit, soit de la dicte Passion et Resurrection 
ou autre quelconque tant de saincts comme de 
sainctes que ilz vouldront elire et mettre sus. 
The date of these representations is therefore 
placed at the latter part of the fourteenth and 
the beginning of the fifteenth century. It is 
very important to know their setting, for the 
Confrerie de la Passion and their dramas hold 
85 



86 STAGE DECORATION 

the stage in Paris at least until 1548, when their 
trouble began in earnest. These plays must be 
conceived as being given regularly within doors, 
instead of occupying a temporary stage set up 
at the expense of a whole town. There was 
nothing to hinder an open air performance, but 
the real stage of these plays was probably the 
Hopital de la Trinite, whose dimensions are 
given as 6 by 21% toises. 1 Thus the stage in 
such a hall was not large. But such a stage is 
none the less typical of the Middle Ages. It 
is even more important for the evolution of the 
drama than the large temporary stages in the 
open air. The Miracles de Ste. Genevieve are 
well adapted to a small stage. The plays could 
be given separately or collectively. The de- 
mands made upon the stage director could 
hardly have been difficult to fulfill at any time. 
They form a cycle from which different plays 
could be selected. 

These miracle plays seem to have treated the 
setting of Hell as did the Miracles de Notre 
Dame, that is, Hell was generally behind the 
scenes. Devils appear in the Martyre de St. 
Pierre et de St. Pol, but Hell itself is not rep- 

1 See p. 191. The toise was 1 metre, 949 mil. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 87 

resented by a formal scene. When Simon is 
killed, the first devil says: Ou puis d'enjer 
vous porteron. A stage direction follows which 
reads : Cy Vemportent hors du champ en uslant. 
The pit of Hell is thus hors du champ, or be- 
hind the scenes; and the spectator merely saw 
an exit. Later in the play Nero is killed and 
the devils cry out : Ou puis d'enjer te porteron. 
A stage direction then shows the following ac- 
tion : Lors Vemportent et puis le jetent en une 
chaudiere assise un pou haut enmy le champ. 
They tell him that now he will know what Hell 
is. Then they blow under the cauldron and 
make some smoke; but, as the direction says, 
they soon cease. The second devil speaks: 

Neron, encore pis te feron. 
A Lucifer te porteron. 

Then comes the stage direction: Cy le portent 
hors du champ; and again it is seen that Hell 
proper, where Lucifer stays, is behind the 
scenes. It is not correct to say that the caul- 
dron represented a scene in Hell. It was placed 
before the eyes of the spectators as one of the 
infernal tortures and was introduced to satisfy 
the medieval demand for horrors. 2 
2 Cohen holds a different view, op. cit., p. 93. 



88 STAGE DECOEATION 

The other miracle in this collection in which 
devils appear is the miracle of the child thrown 
into a well and resuscitated by Ste. Genevieve. 
After the devils have obtained the soul of the 
child, the author resorts to this means of getting 
them out of the spectators' eyes as far as the 
action is concerned. Satan says: 

Or nous seons 

Et dedens nos papiers veons. 

The stage direction carries out this action: 
Lors se sieent et regardent en leurs roulez et 
soient jusques a tant que les anges viegnent. 
This means is employed to get the devils out 
of the way, because evidently Hell is not rep- 
resented, or they would have gone to their 
natural abode. When the soul is taken from 
the demons after a sharp struggle, the direction 
says : Cy s'en fuient. This must mean, off the 
stage; and there is nothing to show that a 
scene from Hell was used in these plays which 
deal with the conversion and martyrdom of the 
saints. 

However, a scene in Hell is needed in one 
of the miracle plays which deal with Ste. Gene- 
vieve, for Raphael is directed to take une 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 89 

ymagete soubz le couverteur et la tiegne suz son 
bras senestre en ly monstrant a la desire enfer. 
The soul of Ste. Genevieve is shown in Hell, of 
which the tortures are described in a few lines. 
The episode is short and unimportant. The 
scene may have been a Mnd of tableau; but it 
does not occur again in these Miracles. The 
fact that the scene occurs but once shows that 
the Hell scene was by no means indispensable. 
Here were plenty of chances to use it, which 
were allowed to slip by. Even though it does 
not seem probable, let it be granted that, be- 
cause in one of these plays a scene in Hell was 
used, such a scene was also used in the others 
noted above, since they all belonged to the same 
confrerie; yet the setting does not gain in im- 
portance. It is merely an exit. There is no 
evidence of a dragon's mouth. At best, the 
setting of Hell in miracle plays must be re- 
garded as an unimportant episode in the whole 
production. It is in the mysteries that the 
scenes in Hell are so carefully set; and the 
mystery plays belong mostly to the fifteenth 
century. The stage without a dragon's head, 
even with no representation of Hell, is none 
the less typical of the Middle Ages than the 



90 STAGE DECOEATION 

stage on which the horrors of Hell occupied a 
large place. Indeed any attempt to reduce the 
stage setting to a type is likely to prove dis- 
astrous. 

Considering first only the plays of this col- 
lection which deal with the saints, it is found 
that Heaven was placed above the stage, as is 
proved by the stage direction in the Conversion 
de S. Pol: Lors voisent en passant par des- 
soulz Paradis. The scene evidently did not 
extend over the whole stage, nor around three 
sides of it as is shown in some miniatures, for 
the actors are directed to walk under it, and 
also Damas is placed en coste Paradis. Its 
exact location is doubtful. In later plays, it 
was at one side of the stage and Hell on the 
other. 3 In the preceding miracle, which may 
be joined to this one, the lines show God seated 
in Heaven and Christ on his right hand. There 
are also angels in Heaven who, as in the 
Miracles de Notre Dame, sing rondels. 

The setting of these plays was simple. There 
is nothing in the lines of the Martyre de Saint 
Estienne to show any scenery, except Heaven, 
or any change of the place of action. 

8 See p. 118. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 91 

There are chairs for the characters and evi- 
dently some of them stand on a raised platform. 
Lisbie is directed: Cy descende d'en hault et 
voise devant St. Denis. Another direction 
reads : . . . Fescennin soit ou 'plus hault ciege, 
while Simon mounts un pou hault in order to 
call the devils. Such an arrangement may 
have been employed to raise certain characters 
above the rest of the stage, in order that they 
might be seen more easily, especially if the 
actor were supposed to be on a throne. 4 

The question as to how cities were repre- 
sented at this period rises again. "Damas, for 
instance, is en coste Paradise. Was it merely 
represented by its provost and citizens? Was 
there any scenery to mark Athens beyond the 
four altars? Were Rome and Paris merely 
places where such and such an action took place, 
but undecorated by scenery beyond a throne or 
any maison supposed to be in that place ? There 
is no reason for conjecturing that there were 
other special settings at this time on this stage. 
Whatever scenery occurs in these plays is 
merely an aid to the understanding of the 
action. 

*See p. 193. 



92 STAGE DECOBATION 

There is evidence of a real maison in the 
prison, which can be entered, and whose in- 
terior and exterior were visible, as is shown by 
the direction: En la chartre soient vestemens 
. . . autel et calice et du pain. That such a 
scene should have walls is made necessary by 
the action. There is also a direction en mon- 
strant lit et table which refers to an inn. It is 
impossible to say whether this scene had a wall 
or not. But there are few such scenes and it 
really makes little difference, therefore, whether 
in these plays they were inclosed on one or two 
sides. 

If thrones are granted to dignitaries, — and 
there is little reason for conjecturing anything 
else showing a palace — about all the scenery 
and properties needed for these plays besides 
the scenes just discussed are : a ditch, table and 
chairs for the house of Catulle, chevaus de fust, 
greil, and a four. These plays do not need 
much scenery nor do they lend themselves 
readily to any elaborate setting. They are too 
full of scholastic discussions. Few scenes were 
needed if the plays were given separately. But 
they could be combined and thus it is difficult 
to say just how many scenes were set at once. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 93 

The Conversion de 8. Pol would need Damas, 
probably represented by its citizens ; a provost ; 
and a maison for the Virgin. If the Conver- 
sion de $. Denis were joined to it then four 
altars would be added to the setting. A stage 
direction speaks of a logeis for the philosopher 
and his wife, but this does not necessarily mean 
scenery. It refers to the place of the actors on 
the stage rather than any set scene, for the di- 
rection voisent en leur logeis is given when the 
stage is to be cleared in the next play, and the 
scene changes to "before Nero." A throne for 
Nero and a tomb are the only scenes added if 
this third play be given. Finally if the Martyre 
de 8. Denis be given, the only new scenes to 
be set are the prison, an inn, the house of Ca- 
tulle, and a ditch. Thus in any case the stage 
would not be overcrowded as there are few 
real scenes, since the chairs of dignitaries do 
not count. Also nothing would hinder scenery 
being removed or used twice. Thus again one 
must imagine a stage with few scenes. 

The Miracles de Ste. Genevieve also require 
very little scenery. Heaven with God and the 
angels is above the stage, as is usual at this 
period ; and there is one vision of Hell, although 



94 STAGE DECOEATION 

the scene does not seem to have been much used, 
for at least there is no evidence that the devils 
use it even as an exit. The plays are very- 
short ; and, if taken separately, only one or two 
real scenes would be set. Even if they were 
played together the stage would not have been 
overcrowded. 

The house in which Ste. Genevieve was born 
is referred to very clearly by the lines, and 
the scene must have been set. The child is told 
not to pass the door; but she goes where une 
queue soit ou pierres comme la gueule de .i. puis. 
This same well probably served in the later 
Miracle of the child thrown into a well by the 
devils. This direction also serves to show how 
such scenes were constructed. 

The home of Ste. Genevieve near Paris is 
described very carefully as follows: Lors se 
tiegne devant Paris un pou avant ou champ, et 
illecques soit un petit autel suz le quel soit 
V image Nostre Dame, et devant V autel une 
fourmete pour soy mettre a oroison, et oien pres 
soit son lit fait de une table en Jiault et un povre 
couverteur dessuz et. i. oreillier de bois. When 
such care is taken to prescribe the setting of 
this scene it is probable that if there had been 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 95 

special scenery for Paris, it, too, would have 
been mentioned. Lectree is marked by an altar 
with the image of St. Denis upon it. The direc- 
tion: Cy. retournent a leur hostel, which refers 
to the sick girl and her mother and which oc- 
curs at the end of the play, hardly refers to a 
scene. The hostel is not necessary to the action 
unless it was the sick girl's bed, in which case 
it would be easily represented. There is no 
evidence that it was a separate maison, care- 
fully set. All of the scenery necessary for the 
action is described by the directions. As has 
been seen, the places represented are few and 
the settings, while realistic, are not elaborate. 
The scene in Heaven is not the one which held 
the eyes of the audience; but the interest cen- 
tered upon Earth. Realistic simplicity is the 
chief characteristic of the stage decoration. 

The Vie de 8. Fiacre is only another ex- 
ample of this simplicity. The stage was prob- 
ably set with a boat, a church with an altar, a 
hermitage which can be entered and which is 
built on the stage, Heaven, and perhaps a maison 
for the Pucelle. This play, however, is inter- 
rupted by a farce in which scenery is needed 
for a tavern, as is shown by the lines : 



96 STAGE DECOEATION 

En ceste chambre cy derriere 
Vous seez; lieu y a prive. 

There are lacunae in the Nativite of this 
collection; but the scenery can none the less 
be reconstructed with little probable error. 
Earthly Paradise and Heaven seem to be the 
same scene in this play, as far as can be judged 
from the lines. It has already been pointed 
out that in the Adam play Paradise, while on 
a higher level, could not be considered as a 
scene representing Heaven. It will be seen 
later that in the Mistere du Vieil Testament, 
the two scenes are quite distinct. Also in this 
play it must be remembered that the part of 
Paradise in which the Tree of Life stands and 
from which Adam and Eve are driven would 
present quite a different appearance from that 
part of Paradise occupied by God and the 
angels. Therefore, in reality, there were two 
scenes. The line spoken by God: Qui la jus 
gardent les aigneaux is evidence that Heaven 
was above the stage. 

Hell is necessary to the action and even its 
interior was shown. The devil says : 

Adam, venez en noz maison 
Ou premier estage d'enfer, 



IN FRANCE IN TliE MIDDLE AGES 97 

That this implied action is carried out is 
proved by the stage direction: Adam en enfer 
die. Thus Adam and the prophets were seen 
in the premier estage d' enfer, or Limbo, as this 
scene will be called later. Do these words point 
to a scene set on a lower level? It must be 
borne in mind that the stage was set with re- 
markable realism; and the same feeling which 
would cause Heaven to be placed above the stage 
would naturally cause Hell to be set below the 
level of Earth. The lines in this play spoken 
from Hell : Ha roy Jhesus toy demandons, Des- 
serts tost, are in favor of this theory. This 
does not necessarily mean that the stage was 
built in three stories ; but there is evidence that 
more than two levels were shown on the stage. 
The stage directions and lines of the plays which 
follow the Nativite in this collection may also 
be cited, since all of these plays were probably 
produced on the same stage. 

After the creation the scene changes and 
Caesar's palace is shown. There is more than 
a mere throne, for after the line: Or alons la 
Jiors veoir, sire, comes the stage direction: Cy 
voisent hors de leur eschaufault et regardent le 

7 



98 STAGE DECOEATION 

del. There are also some idols represented, one 
of them being the statue of Jupiter. 

The temple was shown, for Mary asks that 
she may be allowed to remain en ce temple; but 
there may have been only a chair or seat to rep- 
resent the house of Joseph, since, after he has 
been away Mary, says to him: Venez vous 
delez moi seoir. A maison is not necessary for 
the action. After Gabriel has announced to 
Mary that she will bear a child, a dove fait par 
bonne maniere descends. 

The stable must have been carefully repre- 
sented. It is called a hale desordonnee. The 
child is placed in the manger, and the cattle are 
plainly pointed out by the lines. There is noth- 
ing to show a house for the Marechal, but there 
is a distinct scene when Joseph asks him for 
fire and le mete en son giron. Such scenes and 
the scenes with the shepherds hardly demand 
formal scenery. The setting for this play can 
not be called complicated, even if these scenes 
be counted. Yet it is sufficient for the action. 
Such properties as the dove and a heavenly light 
which is supposed to illumine the stable are indi- 
cations of the growing importance of scenery 
and machinery introduced for its own sake and 
not merely to make the action intelligible. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 99 

The Geu des Trois Boys which follows the 
Nativite does not show much advance beyond 
the liturgical drama dealing with the same sub- 
ject. There is nothing to prove that the Three 
Kings had maisons. Probably they came each 
"as if from his own kingdom" as they did in 
the older drama. The star was represented as 
usual. The stable, however, had an added touch 
of realism in the animals. This scene was 
surely the one just described in the Nativite. 
In order to represent the journey the kings are 
directed as follows : Cy voisent entour le champ. 
They arrive before Herod; and there is no 
direct evidence that the palace was represented 
by any scenery except a chair or throne. Yet 
Caesar's palace, which was marked by a maison 
in the preceding play, is not needed in this play. 
The same setting may well have been used for 
Herod's palace, which plays an important part 
in this drama. In reality, this Geu des Trois 
Boys is a second act to the Nativite and such 
changing of scenery would naturally occur. 
This maison would then be guarded and would 
explain both the line: Garder les pors et la 
cite, and the stage direction: Cy facent sem- 
blant de aler garder. ... In fact since Hell 



100 STAGE DECOKATION 

is used as an exit when the devils carry Herod 
there, it is quite possible the setting of the 
Nativite was but little changed. The temple 
would help to represent la cite, and whatever 
represented the house of Joseph would remain 
set. The Tree of Life and the idols are not 
needed; but otherwise the appearance of the 
stage is hardly altered. 

The setting of the Passion was somewhat dif- 
ferent. The interior of Simon's house must 
have been shown. There are several scenes 
which take place within it including that of the 
last supper when a table is set. The sepulchre 
of Lazarus is also indispensable to the action. 
There is one maison, however, which is pointed 
out by the lines, but which one is inclined to 
put behind the scenes even though that region, 
which is so useful to modern drama, was but 
little used in the drama of the Middle Ages. 
Christ bids two of the disciples go ou chastel 
contre vous where they will find the ass upon 
which he will ride into Jerusalem. E"ow the 
chastel itself is not needed as far as the action 
is concerned and the actor might well have 
pointed behind the scenes, even though the 
animal itself was on the stage. The scene is 



IN EBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 101 

not important. To set it would have compli- 
cated the stage unnecessarily. The stage setting 
was simultaneous and complex but it was not 
chaotic. The tendency to allow the imagination 
to dwell upon the curiosities of the open air 
spectacles is likely to make one forget the small 
stage where the area was limited. 

©nee in Jerusalem, Christ is led before Annas, 
Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate. The palace of 
Herod has been discussed above. The houses 
or palaces of the other characters were undoubt- 
edly represented by chairs, at least; and prob- 
ably there was more scenery. Pilate speaks of 
his hostel. The house of Annas is mentioned. 
At any rate there are four distinct scenes. The 
blacksmith's forge must have added an interest- 
ing bit of realism, for the fire is placed within it 
and the nails are forged. Calvary was elevated 
as is shown by the line: Jusques en ce tertre 
Id devant. The cross is naturally placed upon 
this eminence. Heaven is above the stage as 
usual. Evidence of this arrangement is found 
in the stage direction: Les Angles sus. A 
merrier is introduced and cloth is bought of 
him. Also the three Marys go to an epicerie. 
These scenes, while they demand certain prop- 



102 STAGE DECOEATION 

erties, would not need special scenery repre- 
senting two shops beyond the goods themselves 
which were displayed. The sepulchre, which 
played so great a part in the liturgical drama, 
was not lacking in this play. 

Finally both the interior and exterior of Hell 
are visible. Jesus, on the outside, says : Princes 
d'enfer, ouvrez vos portes. Satan, within, says 
to the devils: 

A ces portes fort soustenir. 

Fay que cil huis soient verroule*. 

It is to be noted that the word gates or doors is 
still used for the entrance just as it is in the 
Adam play. These gates are bolted. This fact 
seems to preclude any idea of the jaws of a 
dragon. 

After the scene between Christ and Adam in 
Hell, Mary Magdalene begins to speak and the 
text gives the direction: Magdelaine sus. The 
word sus has heretofore been used in the direc- 
tions of this play when an angel or angels are 
to sing as : un ange chantet sus. This evidently 
means that the angel is to sing above in Heaven 
and not on Earth where the action has been 
passing. But Mary Magdalene is on Earth. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 103 

Hence the sus points to the fact that she is not 
in Hell, where the action has been passing, but 
above Hell. Thus we seem to have a case in 
which Hell is represented on a level below the 
stage proper. 

In the final play of the Jubinal collection, the 
Resurrection, Terrestrial Paradise, with the 
Tree of Life, is shown, but the scene was evi- 
dently on the stage proper and was distinct 
from Heaven. The devil speaking to Eve in 
Paradise says that if she will eat of the fruit 
she will be lassus aux cieulx with the angels. 
Also there is a stage direction: Dieu voise 
entour le champ jusques Adam ait mengie du 
fruit. This occurs during the scene in Paradise 
and the word champ which generally means the 
stage itself is evidence that the setting of this 
Paradis terrestre, as it is called by Adam, was 
not above the champ or stage. It is to be 
noticed that, after the descent into Hell, the 
ascent into Heaven is merely implied by the 
lines. This action, however, is common to all 
plays of the Resurrection and surely took place. 
The Heaven scene existed, but it was toward 
the scenes on Earth and in Hell that the eyes 
of the spectators were directed. 



104 STAGE DECOEATION 

When Adam and Eve have been driven out 
of Paradise, Adam is directed to pretend to till 
the ground and Eve to spin. Then they enter 
Hell. The direction : Adam, en enfer, die again 
shows that the interior of Hell was visible. 
The entrance of Christ into Hell takes place 
as usual; but the lines still give no hint of the 
dragon's head. The words portes de ceste maison 
are still employed. As has already been seen 
in the Nativite, Limbo was the premier estage 
d'enfer, and the scene was set within and not 
outside of the gates of Hell. The same dis- 
position of scenery occurs in this play. Christ 
says of the prophets in Hell : 

Y sont devers tine partie 
Qui limbe est appelee et dicte. 

Thus the idea is growing of a Hell divided into 
different scenes ; and here we find the first step 
in the direction of a more complicated scene 
which will occur in a later Resurrection. As 
for the level of the setting, the line R'alon-m'en 
en bisme parfont may be pointed out as sig- 
nificant. 

The other scenes, on Earth, are simple. The 
sepulchre is represented. The scene with the 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 105 

espicier demands merely properties such as 
ointment and scales. Pilate was probably seated 
in state ; but Caiapbas and Annas are not digni- 
fied with chairs, for when their short roles are 
finished they are directed to a go where they 
wish." This is practically an exit. Finally 
there is a garden in which stands a pine tree. 
Such are the settings of these early plays. 
The advancement over the liturgical drama is 
plain. More elaborate scenery will be intro- 
duced; but any indoor stage cannot differ 
greatly from these we have been describing, nor 
will all plays show more complicated settings 
in the future. From this period on, the great 
open air spectacles exist ; but stages with simple 
decorations such as these, and even simpler, 
exist side by side with the open air mystery. 



CHAPTEE VI 

Longer Passions of the 15th Century. Evidence Fur- 
nished by Miniatures. Passion d' Arras. Hell Placed 
on a Level below Earth. Setting of the Play according 
to Journees. Passion at Eouen in 1474. Number of 
Scenes. One Level. Passion de Semur. Its Setting ac- 
cording to Journees. 

The problem of stage decoration becomes 
somewhat different when the longer Passions 
are considered, such as the Passion oV Arras, 
which contains about twenty-five thousand lines. 
It is divided into journees or acts, however. 
Thus the difficulty of mounting such a play was 
materially lessened by the fact that scenery 
could be changed. Only one journee need be 
considered at a time in attempting to recon- 
struct the appearance of the stage of this play, 
which is so important in the history of the 
French drama of this period. It is probably- 
the work of Eustache Mercade and is dated be- 
tween 1402-1414. According to Eoy, the 
great Passions of the north in the fifteenth cen- 
tury are derived, with few exceptions, from the 

106 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 107 

Passion d' Arras, either in the first or second 
degree. 

It was suggested by Petit de Julleville 1 that 
the miniatures in the manuscript, still pre- 
served at Arras, would elucidate many obscure 
points in the stage decoration, if they were ex- 
amined closely. But it would be extremely haz- 
ardous to draw from these miniatures any con- 
clusions which are not fully corroborated by the 
text. For example, the manuscript begins with 
the direction : " Here is the Trinity in Paradise, 
that is : God the father sitting on his throne and 
about him are the angels and archangels in great 
multitude. . . . The others are on their knees 
before God, with Pity, who holds a branch of 
olive in her hand. And Justice is on her right, 
who holds a sword in her hand. And with Pity 
on their knees are Beauty, Wisdom, and Char- 
ity." In the miniature corresponding to this 
direction, God is in the sky surrounded by 
angels, while below him are the figures called 
for, standing in a meadow. On the next page, 
although no change of scene is noted in the 
text, the same figures are shown; but they are 
standing on what appears to be a tiled floor, 

1 Les Mysteres, vol. II, p. 416. 



108 STAGE DECOEATION 

with a green and gold wall for a background. 
On page five, the scene still being in Heaven, 
the same figures are shown in the same posi- 
tion ; but the background has changed to a land- 
scape in which a castle stands. The tiled floor 
appears on the following page. God is again 
represented on the seventh page with a sky as 
background; but the angels are entirely miss- 
ing. Thus the artist has forgotten his first set- 
ting. God was first seated in an arm-chair. Here 
he sits on a box-like arrangement. The archi- 
tecture both of the stable and the temple changes 
from miniature to miniature. Beginning with 
page 232 the work is done by a different artist. 
Granted that these artists saw this play or some 
other produced, there is little to suggest a stage. 
The pictures seem to be fanciful creations of 
the imagination. 

The well-known miniature of the Valenci- 
ennes mystery, which has been so often repro- 
duced, also gives a somewhat erroneous impres- 
sion of the stage. It would be impossible to set 
such a Paradise on the roof of one maison; yet 
Mortensen, evidently relying on this miniature 
as evidence, describes the typical Heaven as 
"an immense halo of gold which turns inces- 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 109 

santly, and on the edges of which some angels 
are floating. It is the Empyrean, the seventh 
circle where God is sitting in the midst of the 
blessed phalanxes." 2 There is no real evidence 
that such a machine for representing Heaven 
ever existed, placed as this is supposed to be, 
over one room. The question arises as to where 
were the organ and the many angels to find 
room. As represented by the miniature such 
a scene, with such proportions, is a physical im- 
possibility. Even though, with modifications, 
such a setting might be possible, the scene is not 
entirely typical of the Middle Ages. Such 
grandeur is found only in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries on open air stages. Thus the 
evidence of miniatures must be used with dis- 
cretion. The Valenciennes play extended over 
twenty-five days. The miniature reproduces 
only a very small part of the scenery and is 
more or less fanciful. Also, had the repre- 
sentation not been one which was out of the 
ordinary, it is not probable that any attempt 
to reproduce the stage would have been made. 
Thus error arises from publishing this minia- 

2 Mortensen, le Theatre f rancais au moyen age (traduit 
par Philipot), Paris, 1903, p. 177. 



110 STAGE DECOEATION 

ture either as a typical stage for the whole 
period or as the whole stage of this particular 
play. 

In the Passion d' Arras Heaven contains God 
and the angels, as usual. There were also means 
of causing a bright light to shine from the angles. 
During the second journee sl cloud passes in 
which the voice of God is heard. Such machines 
are indicative of the growing importance of the 
scene in Heaven. It cannot be said, however, 
that, even in this mystery, Heaven is the pre- 
dominating scene. Terrestrial Paradise is 
again distinct from Heaven or else the following 
stage direction would be meaningless: Cy 
emmaine Jhesus Vhumain linage en paradis 
terrestre. 

As Heaven was above the stage, it would be 
natural to place Hell on a lower level. This 
seems to have been the case in this play, for 
the lines often refer to Hell as below Earth. 
For example: Lassus en terre oil fay trouve 
(line 17691), is a line spoken in Hell. While 
on the other hand we find the following lines 
spoken on Earth : . . . entre on parfont d' infer 
(line 21012) ; Descendant ou limbe d'infer 
(line 22851) ; Aux tenebres d'infer descendre 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 111 

(line 23134). There is little, if any, reason 
for mistrusting this evidence. To place Hell 
below the level of Earth is no more surprising 
than to place Heaven above. In fact it would 
be strange if this were not the case, in view of 
the system of stage decoration which was in 
vogue. It is unfortunate that there is no stage 
direction in this play tending to prove that the 
scenery was thus arranged; but whatever evi- 
dence is found, is favorable to the theory that 
the stage consisted of more than two levels. 

Hell itself is conceived as a stronghold. Its 
entrance is a gate or doors, for the devils say: 
Fremons noz portes a chainnies (line 18158) 
and a stage direction : Cy abat Jhesus les portes 
d'infer, carries out the same idea. There is a 
miniature in the manuscript which represents 
some devils issuing from the mouth of a dragon ; 
but there is also another which represents the 
entrance of Hell as stone gates. Thus nothing 
can be proved from these miniatures, even if 
the theory of the influence of stage scenery on 
art be accepted. These miniatures belong to the 
latter part of the fifteenth century ; and if they 
prove anything, it is that the setting of Hell was 
hesitating at that . period between a dragon's 



112 STAGE DECOEATION 

mouth and gates. The interior is evidently 
divided into Limbo, where Adam and the 
prophets are, and Hell proper in which Lucifer 
is chained in the flames. In addition to the 
gates, a window is implied in the line (20875) : 
Je viens de fermer no hucquiet (guichet). 

The scenes requiring a special setting for the 
first day are a maison for Joseph and Mary, a 
maison for Elizabeth the house of the Evesque, 
Herod's palace, an inn, the stable, the temple, 
a pastoral scene, the idols in an Egyptian tem- 
ple, and at least a chair for Octavian. The 
Three Kings are as usual supposed to come from 
their kingdoms; but these are merely places on 
the stage and were probably without special 
scenery. Thus we may count ten different 
scenes at the most. There is no evidence of 
special setting for cities. The different scenes 
were quite elaborate. For example, the temple 
could be entered, an altar stood within, and in 
the action of the second day Christ is carried to 
the pinnacle of the temple. The palace of Herod 
had a door, and there were seats within the hall. 
The Three Kings go to bed at the inn, and the 
scene must have been carefully set. Line 1651 
. . . empres ce buisson shows the nature of the 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 113 

pastoral scene. There is also a tree which bows 
before Christ. 

The second day or act required, first of all, 
the river Jordan. The palace of Herod ap- 
pears again, and a prison is needed. In the 
third day the prison was raised in the air by 
divine power. The temple and une tres haulte 
montagne were used in the scene of the tempta- 
tion. The wood, to which line 7650 refers, was 
perhaps the pastoral scene of the first day or 
was a part of the mountain scene. It is pos- 
sible that a part of the river scene served for the 
pool. The burial of Lazarus called for a fosse. 
The house of Simon was shown and the table 
for the Last Supper was set within. A garden 
is needed. There are also maisons for Caiaphas, 
Annas, Pilate, Zaccheus, Martha, and for 
Vhomme a la canne. It would be possible to 
use scenery twice in this act. For instance, the 
house of Simon is not necessary to the action 
during the scene at the house of Vhomme a la 
canne. The same setting could be used for both. 
This was done in the liturgical drama. It is 
not possible to prove that it was the case in this 
play; but it would be a natural proceeding and 
one which would lessen the difficulty of setting 



114 STAGE DECOEATION 

a stage. Granting that all these scenes were 
represented, the number of scenes is large but 
perfectly possible on an open air stage. In the 
heading of one of the divisions of the play there 
is a chastel mentioned which is not needed in 
the action. Thus we do not count this scene. 
The chastel where the ass is found is also left 
out of the reckoning for reasons already ex- 
plained. 3 

The complicated scenes are the temple, Her- 
od's palace, the prison, the house of Simon and 
the house of Zaccheus. In both of these houses 
a table must be set. The houses of Caiaphas, 
Annas, and Pilate might well have been chairs 
or thrones covered with a canopy. The moun- 
tain and the river would also require a rather 
large space. The other scenes, even the forest 
and the garden, would be easily set. In addi- 
tion to the above scenery a tree for Zaccheus, 
an elder tree, and a fig tree were shown. Thus, 
if in reckoning the number of scenes considera- 
tion is taken of the fact that few were difficult, 
it is easily seen that such a stage is not im- 
possible nor a matter of great wonder, even 
though it is curious. 
8 See p. 100. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 115 

For the third day the setting is much simpler. 
Pilate's maison is shown, and he also enters and 
comes out of a pretoire. Herod's palace still 
occupies its place. Jesus is bound to a pillar 
in the house of Caiaphas. This may well have 
been one of the supports of the canopy so often 
found over the chair of a high personage. The 
prison also remains. The words ouvrez nous 
Vhuis of line 15457 refer to the house of the 
blacksmith, an important scene in the Passion 
Plays. The " very high mountain " of the pre- 
ceding day has become Calvary. There is an 
"altar to an unknown god"; and lastly, the 
sepulchre. 

The prison, the houses of Annas, Caiaphas, 
and Pilate are the scenes which occur again in 
the fourth day. The house of Joseph of Arima- 
thea is implied in the words : J'enierray ens. 
In addition to the maisons the Chastel de Maux 
is seen. It is interesting to note that when the 
apostles close the doors of their house, the in- 
terior is still visible, for the stage direction 
says after this action: Adonc mettent la table, 
et Jhesus mange en leur presence. This is 
quite conclusive proof that the wall of the room 
toward the audience was taken out. 4 A sea with 

*See p. 219 for discussion of this point. 



116 STAGE DECOEATION 

a ship is also necessary and the mountain is 
now Mount Olivet, a scene large enough to hold 
all the apostles. In this act paradis terrestre 
is again set as in the first day. 

This is the scenery for the Passion of Arras 
when it was presented in its entirety. Nothing, 
however, would prevent giving a part of it, just 
as parts of the Vieil Testament were given at 
Paris. In either case the stage would not be 
overcrowded. Yet it did happen at Rouen in 
1474 that the main stage was not made large 
enough to contain all the scenes, for, as we are 
told by the description of the stage in the manu- 
script, les establies des six Prophetes estoient 
hors des autres en diverses places et parties 
d'icely Neuf Marchie. 

The main stage was set as follows: 

Premierment vers Orient. 

Paradis. 

Ouvert faict en maniere de Throsne et regons d'or 
tout autour. Au milieu duquel est Dieu en une 
Chaiere paree et au coste dextre du luy Paix et soubz 
elle Misericorde; et au senestre Justice et soubz elle 
Verite; et tout autour d'elles neuf ordres d'Anges les 
uns sur les autres. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 117 



f 1. La Maison des parens Nostre Dame. 
NazarethA 2. Son Oratoire. 

1 3. La Maison de Elizabeth en Montaigne. 



1. Le Logis de Symeon. 

2. Le Temple Salomon. 

3. La demeure des Pucelles. 

4. L'Ostel de Gerson Scribe. 

5. Le lieu du peuple Payen. 
„6. Le lieu du peuple des Juifz. 



Hierusalem. 



Bethleem.* 



1. Le lieu de Joseph et de ses deux Cousins. 

2. La Crache ez Beufz. 

3. Le lieu ou Ven regoit le tribut. 

4. Le Champ aux Pasteurs contre la Tour 

Ader. 



"1. Le Chasteau de Sirin Prevost de Syrie. 

2. Le Temple Apollin. 

3. La Maison de Sibille. 

4. Le Logis des Princes de la Synagogue. 
Bomme. -{ 5. Le lieu ou Ven regoit le tribut. 

6. La Chambre de VEmpereur. 

7. Le Throsne d'icelluy. 

8. La Fontaine de Bomme. 
^9. Le Capitole. 

Enfer faict en maniere d'une grande gueulle se 
cloant et ouvrant quant besoing est. 

Le Limbe des Peres faict en maniere de Chartre et 
n'estoient veus sinon au dessus du faux du corps. 

Les places des Prophetes ez divers lieux hors les 
autres. 6 

B FrSres Parf aict, vol. II, p. 494. 



118 STAGE DECOEATION 

The prologue tells us that signs were used in 
this play to aid the spectators in recognizing 
the different scenes: 

Present des lieux, vous les pouvez cognoistre 
Par Rescript tel que dessus voyez estre. 

This means of marking scenery does not seem 
to have been employed often in France. The 
divisions of the scenery into cities carries out 
the theory that, as a general rule, there was no 
special setting to mark cities, such as is implied 
by the miniature in the Valenciennes mystery. 
The houses or palaces of a town were sufficient 
to represent the locality of the action when it 
changed from Rome to Jerusalem, for instance, 
without the aid of a gate or wall bearing the 
name of the place. 

The remarkable point in this quite careful 
description is that no mention is made of 
Heaven being above Earth. All that is said is : 
Premierment vers Orient. Paradis. 6 The set- 
ting is noted, and Nazareth is mentioned as 
coming next on the stage. There is nothing to 
suggest .that the houses in Nazareth were be- 

8 The abode of the blessed being toward the rising sun 
is a conception common to ancient as well as modern 
literature. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 119 

neath Heaven; on the contrary, the description 
cannot be interpreted in any other way except 
as meaning that all the scenes were on the same 
level. The objection may be made that usually 
there is no doubt that Heaven is above the stage. 
Yet the writers of this period who take the 
trouble to describe the setting at all, are so ex- 
plicit concerning the scenery of Heaven and 
take such care to inform us that it was above 
Earth, that it is unlikely that this writer would 
have failed to mention this fact had it been true, 
for he is exact in noting the rest of the decora- 
tion. Only in considering the general rule of 
placing Heaven on a higher level, does one be- 
come doubtful. But one of the points to be 
insisted upon is that, from the very beginning, 
a certain setting may have existed only once, 
and the stage varied greatly according to the 
imagination of the stage carpenters, the form 
of the play, and the conditions under which it 
was produced. This play, represented in the 
open air on a large stage, may well have been 
set on one level, because of the difficulty of pla- 
cing so large a scaffolding as Heaven needed 
above another scaffolding. 

Heaven, placed at the eastern end of the 



120 STAGE DECOEATION 

stage, is separated by all the rest of the scenery 
from Hell. The entrance of Hell is in the form 
of a dragon's month. This setting became popu- 
lar in the fifteenth century. Had it been the 
general rule from the early plays down to these 
productions it would have been described before 
and taken as a matter of course rather than as 
a novelty at this period. 7 Behind the dragon's 
head is found Limbo which is within Hell. 
Thus the devils evidently passed through the 
mouth of the dragon and again appeared before 
the eyes of the spectators instead of merely dis- 
appearing below the stage or behind the scenes 
when they entered Hell. If this were not the 
case, the scene in which Christ enters Hell and 
frees the prophets from Limbo could not be con- 
sistently acted, for he would be out of view if 
the dragon's head did not lead to Limbo. 

Petit de Julleville has reckoned the number 
of maisons in this play as twenty-two, not count- 
ing Paradise, Hell and Limbo or the etablies 

7 The first direct mention of this scene gives it as oc- 
curring in 1437 at Metz. La touche et entree de I'enfer 
de icelluy jeu estait tres Men faicte'; car par ung engin, 
elle se ouvroit et reclooit seule quand les diables voulloi- 
ent entrer ou issir. Et avoit celle hure deux gros yeux 
d'acier . . . Croniquer de Metz, ed. Huguenin, p. 201. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 121 

of the six prophets. But if we count the num- 
ber of settings on the main stage we find the 
number to be nineteen. This number includes 
Paradise, Hell, and Limbo, but excludes such 
places as le lieu du peuple Payen, since they 
are not decorated with scenery. The Oratoire 
is also more of a property than a scene. The 
stage, therefore, could not contain more than 
nineteen or twenty scenes even though it was 
in the open air, for the rest of the scenery could 
not be arranged on it. Although there was no 
limit for the size of the stage out of doors, yet, 
since more than twenty maisons was a difficult 
setting at Rouen, it is possible that this number 
was rarely, if ever, exceeded even in these great 
provincial spectacles which occurred rarely and 
which must have been very curious to Parisians, 
who were accustomed to the indoor stages where 
such settings were impossible. It is true that 
the Parisian saw mimed mysteries on tempo- 
rary stages in the open air ; but the true Parisian 
stage was inclosed in a hall from the end of the 
fourteenth century onward. 

The Passion de Semur* played in 1488, is 
an example of a play which stands midway be- 
8 Boy, op. cit. 



122 STAGE DECOEATION 

tween the simple plays of the Jubinal collection 
and the greater mysteries. It is imitated from 
the Passion de Ste. Genevieve and a comparison 
of the stage decoration of the two dramas will 
show that the stage carpenters had a more diffi- 
cult setting to construct in the later play. 

The action begins in Paradise with God in 
a chair and Angeli hinc et inde. There is noth- 
ing unusual in this; but an added touch of 
realism is given when he bids that light be 
created. This is represented by drawing back 
a curtain. Estolatur quedam cortina que 
erit ante ipsum, et plene videatur a populo. 
This scene was on the customary higher level, 
as is proved by the stage directions: Hie as- 
cendant paradisum and Modo descendat de 
paradiso. This was not the only level above the 
stage, however. Terrestrial Paradise is below 
and distinct from Paradise proper, for we read 
in a stage direction: Descendat de Paradiso et 
vadat juxta paradisum terrestrem. . . . But line 
894 En paradix terrestre en hault is evidence 
that this scene was not on the same level with 
Earth, and this arrangement is fully carried 
out by the rubric . . . Et sic adscendant in 
paradiso terrestre, et Anima Christus sedeat in 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 123 

quadam cathedra. This scene is set as an or- 
chard, being called Ce vergier (line 546) ; and, 
of course, it contains the Tree of Life. Another 
of the trees is mentioned as a fig tree. 

Hell is represented as usual. As God sits on 
his throne in Heaven, so Lucifer sits on his 
royal throne in Hell. The entrance of this 
scene does not appear to have been marked by 
a dragon's head. Line 8501 : Mort, fai que la 
porte soit close and the direction : Modo cadant 
forte inferni, using the word porte, shows how 
the author conceived the scene in his imagina- 
tion. The following lines also show that he 
thought of Hell as below Earth: En bisrne 
Vavons fait descendre (line 456) ; Que beaulcob 
d'ames cy descende (line 1237) ; Et cy mens en 
enfert descendre (line 8687) ; Je croy qu'elle 
vient de lassus (line 5217) . It would be strange 
if the author's idea were carried out only in 
regard to the elevations of Paradise and Ter- 
restrial Paradise. Thus we evidently have a 
stage of four levels. 

The action of the First Day needs quite a 
number of properties such as altars for Cain 
and Abel ; an altar, a table and couch for Noah ; 
a stone in the desert from which water gushes 



124 STAGE DECOEATION 

forth at the command of Moses. The ark is 
built or is rather supposed to be built on the 
stage. The scene was exact enough to show the 
one window, for a direction bids it be closed. 
(Hie claudat fenestram). A carefully pre- 
pared scene is also shown as follows : Hie debet 
Deus descendere de paradiso in montem Sinay, 
et introire domum 9 igneam subtiliter factam de 
aqua vite, et ibi debet oculte bucina bucinare in 
dicta domo ignea. 

An entr'acte is practically caused by the 
long prophecies. The properties just mentioned 
were not all necessary for the action which 
follows. Are we to believe that they all held 
their place on the stage and that even the ark 
stood incongruously before the eyes of the spec- 
tator as he watched the birth of Christ? Or 
would such scenery, which had served its pur- 
pose and would now be in the way, be quietly 
removed? There is nothing to prove that the 
stage was cleared ; but this would be a natural 
procedure, unless the producers of the play 
were trying to embarrass themselves as much as 
possible. 

"The word domum evidently means "place" in this 
indication as in others in this play. It does not refer 
to a maison. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 125 

After the prophecies the action begins in the 
temple where there is an altar. The scene must 
have been well constructed because the devil is 
able to carry Christ super pennaculum templi. 
Later the devil carries Christ super montem. 
This was probably the same scene which served 
for Mt. Sinai earlier in the play. The house 
of Elizabeth is implied by line 2111 : Paix soit 
dedans ceste maison. The scene is not very im- 
portant to the action and was probably repre- 
sented only in a summary fashion. The stage 
direction : Modo vadat ad domum suam would 
generally show a house for Mary ; but since the 
word domum may mean merely "place" as it 
is used in the rubrics of this play, it is difficult 
to decide whether special scenery was employed 
for the house of Mary. The action could be 
understood without it. The house of Kusticus, 
however, is needed in both acts of this drama. 
The interior of the stable is naturally indis- 
pensable. Herod and Octavianus probably occu- 
pied thrones as usual and constitute two sepa- 
rate scenes. The Sibyl is directed as follows: 
Becedet et intret cameram suam. The river 
Jordan and a prison are two other well-known 
scenes which complete the setting for the First 
Day. 



126 STAGE DECOBATION 

The stage for the Second Day is somewhat 
more complicated, Caiaphas, Annas, Herod, 
and Pilate probably occupy chairs; but the 
house of Simon is large enough for the Last 
Supper to take place within it. The temple ap- 
pears again as does also the house of Rusticus. 
The actors sit down and eat in the house of 
Mary Magdalene. The tomb of Lazarus ap- 
pears. {Tunc sepeliunt Lazarum et ponunt in 
sepulcro.) The mountain is again represented. 
The Garden of Olives is referred to by the 
words Hie vadant, and the action demands the 
usual ditch into which Peter throws himself. 
(Intret in foveam.) The carceres of the First 
Day is evidently the turrim in which Barrabas 
is confined in this act. Tunc solvatur a columna 
shows the usual action. A forge is also neces- 
sary as well as the tomb. After the descent 
into Hell, there are needed the chateau of Em- 
maus and the house in which Christ appears, 
casi januis clausis. One is again inclined to 
wonder whether some other scenery was not re- 
used for these scenes. The stage direction: 
Vadant omnes Judei in domum pontificis may 
also point to a setting, the use of the word do- 
mum again being ambiguous. We thus have 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 127 

another example of a play with quite a number 
of scenes demanded at once, if it were given in 
its entirety. Yet even counting such scenes as 
the tombs, the ditch, and the thrones of the high 
personages the number is less than twenty, in- 
cluding Hell, Heaven, and Terrestrial Para- 
dise. ~No matter how many "places" were 
shown, the number of real scenes is by no means 
great, for it must be remembered that this stage 
was undoubtedly in the open air and constructed 
for the occasion. 



CHAPTEK VII 

Different Levels in Hell in Michel's Resurrection. 
Idea Derived from Greban's Passion. Description of the 
scene in Hell. Terrestrial Paradise and Heaven Scenes 
on Earth. Some Scenes in Michel's Passion. 

The Resurrection, attributed to Jean Michel 
and played at Angers in 1471, furnishes a very 
long and careful description of Hell, a scene 
which must have been very complicated, since 
different levels were used to indicate the degrees 
of punishment. The source of this scene is 
apparently in Greban's Passion, a work which 
Michel must have known since his Passion is 
an amplification of two journees of Greban's 
Passion. The description of Hell given by 
Lazarus in Greban's play is, as will appear 
later, the model upon which Michel based his 
scene. This account of Hell reads as follows : 

C'est ung abisme de destresse, 
Ting hideux gouffre de tristesse 
ou toute misere survient. 
Et puisque parler en convient, 
128 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 129 

scavoir devez en ce party 
que l'enffer total en ce vient 
qu'il est en quatre pars party; 
et comment qu'il soit depparty, 
chacune des pars asses nuit: 
ou enffer est peine s'ensuit. 

Et en la plus haulte partie 
qui le limbe des peres est, 
sont des prophetes 

En l'aultre lieu qui est notoire 
et bien ordonne par raison, 
est 1'enfer qu'on dit purgatoire. 



L'aultre enfer qui plus bas descent, 
Ou les sieges sont mal ornes, 
est lieu par tenebre indecent 
et la sont les enfdans morsnes. 

Au plus bas est le hideux gouffre 
tout de desesperance taint 
ou sans fin art l'eternel souffre 
de feu qui james n'est estaint. 1 

If this description be followed, Hell is di- 
vided into four levels. The highest is the Limbo 
of the Fathers ; 2 below this is Purgatory which 

1 Mystere de la passion d 'Arnoul Greban publie . . . 
par G. Paris et G. Eaynaud. Paris, 1878, lines 15791 ff. 

2 Cf . line 1225 of the prologue spoken from Hell lassus 
ou limbe . . . and lines 2369 ff. hors du limbe . . . et 
mis en enffer au plus bas. 

9 



130 STAGE DECOEATION 

is within Hell ; Limbo of the infants comes next 
in order; the lowest of all is the pit of Hell. 
If these divisions be kept in mind, it will be 
seen that they correspond to the setting as 
Michel directed that it be arranged. Since the 
action and the scenery are so easily recon- 
structed, the play is here analyzed as an 
example of the open air drama of the period. 

After a prologue, Peter and John begin the 
play with lamentations. Christ has been cruci- 
fied and the three crosses with their victims are 
visible. The souls in Limbo sing. Enfer is 
personified and speaks; and Satan begins his 
role outside of Hell but he soon enters. Other 
devils appear and enter Hell. They are going 
to a council. Icy cerberus crie a haulte voix 
dessus le portal d' enfer. He is summoning the 
devils. Icy viennent tous les dyables sur le 
portal devant tout le peuple. They have come 
to the parloer sur le portal d' enfer. This is the 
accustomed place for councils to be held. If 
the Valenciennes miniature is correct in this 
detail, it is a kind of council chamber with 
barred windows. It occupies the upper part of 
the gate of Hell, which in this mystery does not 
seem to have been a dragon's jaws. Hell is a 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 131 

stronghold guarded by cannons, and its entrance 
seems to have resembled a city gate. Surely 
Michel would have mentioned the dragon, had 
he imagined it as appearing. He was so exact 
in details that he would hardly have overlooked 
such an important piece of scenery. When he 
does mention the entrance he says portal or 
portes. Why conjecture a dragon's head ? Such 
a setting was not obligatory. 

After a long council as to how to keep Christ 
from entering Hell, two of the devils go to the 
cross. The soul of Christ, clad in white, kneels 
near the cross facing Paradise, which is above 
the rest of the stage as usual. Christ prays 
with joined hands, and the angels descend to 
him. Mamouna, one of the devils, takes the 
soul of the bad thief, which is clad in a black 
shirt. Satan tries to keep Christ from de- 
scending into Hell. Icy se doive faire pause et 
tous les dydbles excepts sathan viennent tous a 
V entree d'enfer et lors comme espouvantez 
feront signes amiratifz en mettant coullevrines 
arbalestes et canons par maniere de defence. 
Et eulx estans sur le portal I'ame de jesucrist 
accompaignee de quatre anges et de Vame du 
bon larron viendra aux portes d'enfer trainant 



132 STAGE DECOEATION 

apres elle saffian enchesne d'une chaine. Then 
the soul of Christ strikes, with his cross, the 
gates, which are broken; and the soul enters 
within Hell accompanied by the soul of the good 
thief and the four angels. Christ condemns the 
devils; and, with the angels, he binds Satan 
hand and foot and then places him on the 
marche du puis d'enfer. It is to be noted that 
the action is taking place within Hell. Thus 
the interior of Hell was fully visible. The gate 
was therefore not facing the audience directly 
but faced the stage, so that the scenery behind 
could be in full view. 

The soul of Christ throws Satan into the 
pit and he cries most horribly. Et icellui puis 
doit estre edifie iouxte le pallour de dessus le 
portal d'enfer entre iceluy portal et la tour du 
limbe par devers le cliamp du jeu pour myeulx 
estre veu. This direction gives the exact place 
of the pit and also shows that the pallour or 
council chamber is not merely at the gate but 
is above it. The description is then carefully 
continued. Et doit estre fait ledit puis en telle 
maniere quil resemble par dehors estre mas- 
sonne de pierres noires de taille. Et si doit estre 
si large qu'il y puisse avoir separation entre les 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 133 

deux parties. En Vune desquelles parties soit 
fait feu de souffre ou autrement saillant con- 
tinuellement hors dudit puis. Et doit estre 
fait par soufflez ou autrement subtillment quon 
ne Vappercoive. Et en V autre partie du puis en 
laquelle sera jecte sathan n'aura point de feu 
et s'en istra ledit sathan par une fenestre qui 
sera faicte par devers enfer asses has. Et apres 
quil aura este jecte, ledit feu doit jecter plus 
grande flambe par avant. Et doit on tirer au- 
cuns canons en ce faisant et avoir tonneaux 
plains de pierres ou d'autres choses que I'en 
doit faire tourner affin quilz facent la plus hor- 
rible noise et tempeste que I'en pourrait faire. 
Apres lesquelles choses ainsi f aides silence doit 
estre imposee. Et alors Vame de jesus doit rom- 
pre a force avec le bout de sa croix et avec le pie 
la tour du limbe de laquelle tour la faczon sera 
cy apres devisee. Notez que le limbe doit estre 
au coste du parloer qui est sur le portal d' enfer 
et plus hault que ledit parlouer en une habita- 
tion qui doit estre en la fasson d'une grosse tour- 
quarree environnee de retz et de filetz ou d 'autre 
chose clere affin que parmi les assist ens puis- 
sent veoir les ames qui y seront quant Vame de 
jesus aura rompu ladicte porte et sera entree 



134 STAGE DECORATION 

dedens. Thus the large square tower of Limbo, 
which is higher than the parlouer which itself 
is above the gate, is on the highest level in Hell 
just as it is described by Lazarus in Greban's 
Resurrection. Mais par avant la venue de 
Vame de jesus en enfer ladicte tour doit estre 
garnie tout a V environ par de Tiors de rideaux 
de toille noir qui couvreront par dehors lesditz 
retz et filetz et empescheront que on ne voye 
jusques a Ventree de ladicte ame de jesus et 
lors a sa venue seront iceulz rideaux subtille- 
ment tirez a coste tellement que les assistens 
pourront veoir dedens la tour. Et notez que a 
la venue de Vame de jesus doit avoir plusieurs 
torches et falotz ardans dedens ladicte tour en 
quelque lieux quon ne les puisse veoir qui 
feront grant clarte. Et derriere ladicte tour en 
ung autre lieu qui ne puisse estre veu doit avoir 
plusieurs gens crians et ullans horriblement 
tous a une voix ensemble. 

Purgatory, as in Greban's play, is below 
Limbo and within the gates of Hell. II est a 
noter que le chartre de purgatoire doit estre au 
dessoubs du limbe a coste, auquel doit avoir dix 
ames sur lesquelles doit apparoir semblance 
d'aucuns tourmens de feu artificiellement fait 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 135 

par eaue de vie. Et d'icelui purgatoire (evi- 
dently in the form of a prison) Vame de jesus 
rompra la porte pareillement a force et puis 
entrera dedens acompaigne desditz anges. — 
Icy endroit Vame de jesus tire Tiors toutes 
les ames de purgatoire et les amaine avecques 
les autres ames du limbe des peres et doit 
avoir ung autre limbe depute pour les petits 
enfans non circoncis et sans avoir eu remede 
contre le peche originel. Lequel limbe des- 
dits petis enfans doit estre au dessoubz de 
celui des peres a costL ... In Greban's de- 
scription this part of Hell is placed below Pur- 
gatory as well as below the Limbo of the 
Fathers; but the two scenes practically corre- 
spond. In both, the Limbo for children comes 
after Purgatory. Greban then mentions the 
pit of Hell. Michel has already described this 
part of Hell because the action centered about 
it first. But surely Michel is directing that 
the scene be set according to Greban's descrip- 
tion. Thus there was a stage of more than 
two levels. 

The soul of Christ and the other souls remain 
in the towers of the Limbo of the Fathers. Then 
Caiaphas places the guards about the sepulchre. 



136 STAGE DECOEATION 

When the discovery is made that the body is 
gone, there are the usual scenes before Pilate 
and Caiaphas, but no scenery is mentioned. 
Joseph is summoned. Joseph monte sur son 
asne et va parler aux juifz. Evidently live 
animals were brought upon the stage. When 
he dismounts he bids his servant to go back to 
his hostel. This place is not important or neces- 
sary to the action, and was probably not marked 
by scenery. The line is merely a makeshift 
to have the ass led away by the servant. Joseph 
is condemned to prison, and a carpenter and a 
mason build the prison in view of the audience. 
Joseph is locked in, and the keys are removed. 
The Jews go to their place on the stage, show- 
ing that their part is finished for the time being. 
To go to one's place or lieu was practically an 
exit. Gabriel comforts Notre Dame; then he 
returns divers le hault paradis jusqua ce quil 
soit envoye oster la pierre de dessus le tombeau. 
The three Marys go to the apothecary whose 
shop is probably shown by his wares. They 
return to Notre Dame and the first act is over. 
When the action begins again, the soul of 
Christ and the other souls are still within Limbo ; 
and Gabriel is directed "to have mounted" 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 137 

into Paradise where he was when the action 
closed on the day before. The soul of Christ, 
accompanied by the three angels, Saint Michel, 
Saint Uriel, and Saint Raphael, takes the soul 
of Adam by the hand, and Adam takes his wife 
by the hand and so on up to the last one. 
Christ then leads them out of Hell dedens le 
champ droit en paradis terrestre. This Terres- 
trial Paradise is a separate scene and is differ- 
entiated from the hault paradis on the stage, 
for the direction continues: Et ce pendant 
gabriel doit estre ou hault paradis pour de- 
scendre quant jesus resucitera pour oster la 
pierre de dessus le tombeau. Heaven therefore 
is above Terrestrial Paradise. The setting of 
this scene is described as follows: Icy Vange 
seraphin garde paradis terrestre et a vestements 
de rouge et visaige rouge tenant une espee toute 
nue en sa main et parte a Vame du bon larron 
par ung carneau du mur endroit ledit guichet 
de paradis terrestre, Et icelui paradis doit 
estre fait de papier au dedens duquel doit avoir 
branches d'arbres les ung fleuriz les autres 
charges de fruits de plusieurs especes comme 
cerises poires pommes figues raisins et telles 
choses artificiellement faictes et d'autres 



138 STAGE DECORATION 

branches vertes de beau may et des rosiers dont 
les roses et les fleurs doivent exceder la haulteur 
des carneaux et doivent estre de frais couppez 
et mis en vaisseau [s] plains d'eaue pour les tenir 
plus freschement. The scene has not changed 
much in two hundred years since the Adam 
play was produced. 

The cities are probably marked by the mai- 
sons supposed to be in them. For example, 
John goes to the apostles estans en jherusalem 
en ung autre maison que celle du cenacle ou 
est la mere de jesus et assez loing. Peter is not 
with the rest, but is in une fosse du jeu. These 
are usual scenes; but the following directions 
show a new departure for the stage in the shape 
of trap doors and underground passages. 'Lors 
Vame de jesus et celles de carinus et leonicus 
se doivent partir de paradis terrestre et aler 
visiblement devant les gens du jeu se bouter es 
lieux ou sont les corps et y entrer sans les ouvir 
pour resusciter . . . apres ladicte resurrection 
faicte s'en doivent lesdictes troys ames aler par 
soubz terre. Magdalene and the other women 
leave with their boxes and ointments, but they 
sejournent en chemin secretement jusques a ce 
quil soit temps d'aler en avant. Et jesus vestu 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 139 

de blanc accompagne de troys anges cest assavoir 
michel raphael et uriel doit soudainement et 
subtillement saillir de dessoubz terre de coste 
de son tombeau par une petite trappe de boys 
couverte de terre laquelle se reclost sans quon 
sen appergoive et se doit seoir sur son tombeau 
sans le froisser ne entamer aucunement. Et 
lors semblablement carinus et leonicus vestus de 
blanc et les pieds nudz se sourdent et se resus- 
citent de leurs tombeaux qui doivent estre en 
jherusalem asses loing du tombeau de jesus 
lequel doit estre hors de jherusalem. Et lors 
soit fait artificiellement ung escroix terrible et 
ung tremblement de terre dont les quatre gardes 
du sepulchre cheent comme morz. . . . After 
the scene at the tomb, Christ " goes a little about 
the stage," then disappears underground to ap- 
pear to his mother, when the time comes, who 
is alone in the house of the cenacle. Larinus 
and Leonicus also disappear in the same way 
to appear later to Nycodemus who is en jheru- 
salem en sa maison. From this house the same 
characters go underground to appear in the 
house of Mary and Martha in Bethany. Thus 
the stage must have been honeycombed beneath 
with passages and trap doors. In this act 



140 STAGE DECOEATION 

Joseph of Arimathea is given a house, and the 
same scene may have occurred during the action 
of the preceding day, although it is not men- 
tioned in the first part of the play and is not 
necessary until now. Such questions would 
probably occur to the stage carpenters at the 
time and would be decided according to existing 
conditions. If the stage were not crowded, 
such a scene would probably remain throughout 
the play. If it were troublesome to mount, it 
would occur only when necessary. The ostel of 
Caiaphas must have been carefully set, for the 
two scribes place the four chevaliers en divers 
lieux en I 'ostel de cayphe soubz ung huys fer- 
mant a clef. The same scene undoubtedly oc- 
curred in the first act, for there are scenes be- 
fore Caiaphas. 

A maison is required for Jacques le mineur 
when Christ goes par dessouhz terre to appear 
to him. This may have been one of the other 
maisons already noted which was free at this 
period of the action. Jesus appears to Joseph 
en prison ou il est sans remuer ne rompre 
ladicte prison Ven doit tirer par contrepois, qui 
ystra par dessouhz terre, icelle prison et puis 
sera rassise comme devant. Jesus takes Joseph 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 141 

by the hand and leads him to the city of Arima- 
thea which is probably figured by the house of 
Joseph. Christ disappears under ground and 
goes to Jerusalem, where a council is held by 
the Jews, first before Caiaphas and then before 
Pilate. Cleophas and Lucas go to Emaux where 
they sit down at the table. Christ appears be- 
fore them, but adonc jesus s'evanouist de leurs 
yeulx subitement par ung engin. The ostel 
d'Emaux being a time-honored scene from the 
liturgical drama on, it was surely represented 
by special scenery. Lucas and Cleophas return 
on the run to Jerusalem and enter the house 
where the apostles are. Icy endroit thomas s y en 
doit aler dehors et jesus entre par dessoubz terre 
en la maison ou sont les disciples en jherusalem 
leurs portes closes quant thomas sen est ale. 
This is proof that the wall of a maison toward 
the audience was taken out or else the action 
could not have been seen. After Christ has ap- 
peared in Terrestrial Paradise where he re- 
ceives the homage and thanks of the prophets, 
he is directed to go en lieu secret until it is time 
for him to appear to his mother. This is an 
example of a real exit. A comic scene between 
a blind man and his servant ends the second 



142 STAGE DECOKATION 

act, for the text says that the "blind man and 
his varlei go away as if going to drink and 
thereupon everyone onght to depart." 

The Third Day is remarkable for its realistic 
setting for the sea. Seven of the apostles enter 
a boat on the sea. This is a scene which often 
occurred; but in this scene real water seems to 
have been employed, for the direction reads: 
Icy saint pierre se vest et va par dessus une 
plance de hoys laquelle doit estre atachee en 
Veaue quon ne la voye et semble quit aille par 
dessus Veaue. 

There are two mountains represented: la 
montaigne de thabor and the mont oVolivet 
lequel doit estre soubz paradis. The maison 
du cenacle is also placed under Paradise — the 
Paradise into which the ascension is made — 
Terrestrial Paradise, which is above the stage 
but is evidently not as high as the Jiault Para- 
dis. If both scenes had been on the same level 
they would hardly have been differentiated by 
this expression. The souls from Hell were 
placed in Terrestrial Paradise, and thus the 
resurrected souls would also be placed there. 
Heaven is therefore divided into these two parts 
on two levels. Terrestrial Paradise has been 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 143 

fully described. The hault paradis probably 
was the highest point where God sat enthroned 
above nine tiers of angels as was customary. 

The ascension was managed as follows : . . . 
et soit jesus vestu de blanc duquel il aura este 
vestu quant il aura fait sa premiere apparucion 
a sa mere et si doit avoir ces V playes fort 
taintes de rouge en son coste dextre et ses piedz 
et mains lequel avecques les troys anges c'est 
assavoir gabriel raphael et uriel sera tire apart 
le premier tout en faux et les deux fils symeon 
resuscites et les XLIX quil menra monteront 
secretement en paradis par une voye sans quon 
les voye mais leurs statures de papier ou de 
parchemin bien contreffaictes jusques au dit 
nombre L et ung parsonnages seront atachez a 
la robe de jesus et tires amont . . . Icy en- 
droit doit descendre grant brandon de feu arti- 
ficiellement fait par eaue de vie et doit visible- 
ment descendre en la maison du cenacle sur 
nostre dame et sur les femmes et apostres qui 
alors doivent estre assis, et tant come il descendra 
se doit faire ung tonnoire d'orgues au cenacle et 
quit soient gros tuyaulx bien concors ensemble 
et en doulceur sur chascun d'eulx doit choir une 
langue de feu ardant dudit brandon et seront 
XXI en nombre. . . . 



144 STAGE DECOEATION 

The stage directions speak for themselves. 
Their presence in such number and the care 
with which they describe minute details show 
the point to which the art of stage decoration 
has risen. It is the scenery which furnishes 
the interest of the play. Stage-setting is a de- 
light to the eye and a wonder to the mind. It 
is no longer a mere aid to the understanding. 
Other machines may be introduced and more 
scenes may be set at once; but the realism of 
this scenery and the care with which it was set 
on its several levels cannot be surpassed. The 
scenes in Heaven and Hell are now the most 
important from the point of view of scenic ef- 
fect. The stage must have been very large, for 
the scene of Paradise alone had to have space 
for much scenery and many characters, and 
only on an out-door stage would such a scene 
be possible. Let us not believe that this stage, 
with different levels, was the type of stage of 
the Middle Ages. This is merely one of the 
many ways that stages appeared. It was, in 
some ways, the triumph of scenic art; but let 
it be remembered that this great stage spectacle 
disappears from view in the next hundred years 
and that the simply decorated comic stage is in 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 145 

reality of more importance in the history of 
the theater. 

The decoration of the stage of Michel's Pas- 
sion does not differ materially from the stages 
of the Passions already described. There is the 
same exactness in the scenery. The temple 
shows a quite careful construction with fifteen 
steps leading up to it. In the First Day — 
which is in reality the somewhat altered Con- 
ception by Greban — Reuben speaks as follows: 

II fault quinze degrez monter, 
Devant que nul ait la notice 
Du grant autel de sacrifice. 

A miracle is then performed by the child 
Mary walking up these steps. Icy met marie 
sur le premier degre et monte senile iusques au 
coupeau. As in other plays Christ and Satan 
mount to the pinnacle of the temple, and the 
following direction explains how this was man- 
aged : Icy se met jesus sur les espaules de sathan 
et par ung soudain contrepoys sont guindes tons 
deux sur le temple. In the interior of the 
temple stand an altar and chairs. Joachin is 
directed to be Devant Vautel du temple a 

10 



146 STAGE DECOEATION 

genoulxj and the doctors sen vont au temple 
seoir en haultes chaires. 

The birth of Christ takes place in the stable, 
and the angels respandent grant lumiere. Also 
they are on a cloud: Icy fault une nuee ou 
seront les anges. The star shines, but icy se 
absconse Vestoille. It finally comes in view 
again and se arreste Vestoille sur la maison. 
Thus has this action grown since, in the litur- 
gical drama, the star hung suspended on a 
string. But, as in the liturgical drama, chairs 
are still used for some of the actors: Icy s'en 
vont ses trois personnaiges en leurs sieges. 

Another piece of stage business which has 
not occurred before takes place when Christ, 
accompanied by three apostles, climbs Mount 
Tabor. Icy entre jesus dedens la montaigne 
pour soy vestir d'une robe la plus blanche que 
faire se pour rat et une face et les mains toutes 
oVor bruny et ung grant soleil a rays bruny par 
derriere puis sera leve hault en Vaer par ung 
soubtil contre pois et tantost apres sortira de la 
dicte montagne helye en habit de carme et ung 
chapeau de prophete a la teste et moyse d 'autre 
coste qui tendra les tables en sa main et ce 
pendant parlera la magdaleine. After the 
transfiguration descent une clere nue sur jesus. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 147 

The city of Jerusalem seems to have been 
marked not only by the maisons within it but 
also by a gate. Icy s'arrestent tous ung peu 
loing de la porte de jherusalem. This is a long 
advance in scenery over the chair of the litur- 
gical drama which was quasi Jerusalem. 

A special scene was also erected for the judg- 
ment of Christ by Pilate. Icy vient pylate 
dedens le pretoire. Et est a noter quil y a 
au milieu du jeu ung parquet tout clos en carve 
et dedens ce parquet il y a une chaire liaulte 
bien paree et une seconde chaire et en ceste 
seconde chaire se siet pylate pour faire le proces 
de jesus et ne se siet point a la haulte chaire 
jusques ad ce quil donne sa sentence contre 
jesus pour le crucifier. Item est a noter que 
dedens le parquet qui est le pretoire ny a que 
pylate assis en la seconde chaire et jesus devani 
lui lye par le corps et par les bras de cordage et 
tous les juifz sont dehors du pretoire assez 
loing. 

After the crucifixion there is an earthquake 
and le voille du temple se rompt par le milieu et 
plusieurs morts tous ensevelis sortiront hors de 
terre de plusieurs lieux et iront dega et dela. 

Michel, therefore, wrote his plays with a 



148 STAGE DECOEATION 

stage in mind which was to show several levels. 
Perhaps the well-known description of the 
theater at Angers in which his Passion was 
played can be explained in the light of these 
plays. The stage is described as consisting of 
cinq eschaffautz a plusieurs Stages, converts 
d'ardoises, et que le paradis, qui Stait le plus 
Sieve, 3 contenait deux Stages. This citation was 
taken by Morice 4 from the Freres Parf aict who 
in turn claim to have gained this information 
from M. Poquet de Livonniere, SecrStaire de 
VAcadSmie Boy ale d' Angers. 5 The Passion to 
which reference is made was given in 1468 ; but 
unfortunately the stage decorations of this play 
are not very explicit in regard to the number of 
levels. The passage applies perfectly, however, 
to Michel's Resurrection given at Angers in 
1471. Paradise, as has been shown above, was 
divided into two scenes: Terrestrial Paradise 
and that part designated as the hault paradis 
and hence above Terrestrial Paradise. This 
corresponds to the above description exactly. 
Earth naturally made another level; and Hell 

3 See Cohen's explanation, op. cit., p. 78. 

4 Morice, Histoire de la mise-en-scene depuis les mys- 
teres jusqu 'au Cid, p. 44. 

5 Note, vol. II, p. 290. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 149 

contained scenes on different elevations. This 
is probably what is meant by plusieurs Stages. 
Because the passage may be interpreted literally 
in regard to the Resurrection in 1471, one has 
no hesitation in believing that it was also true 
that the scenery of the Passion in 1468 was also 
on several elevations which gave the appearance 
of Stages. The mistake lies not in trusting this 
description in regard to Michel's plays in the 
open air at Angers, but in assuming that scenery 
was so constructed as a rule. There are other 
stages of more than two levels; but not all 
stages were divided into Stages. The open-air 
stage was most elastic ; and the fact that a certain 
arrangement of scenery existed at one per- 
formance in one place is no sure sign that other 
stages were thus set as a rule, or, indeed, that 
this arrangement ever existed a second time. 

Exactly the opposite view is taken by Petit 
de Julleville 6 in discussing the plan of the set- 
ting of a Passion published by Mone. 7 This 
plan shows an oblong stage with scenes set on 
both sides of it. There was no front nor rear 
of the stage, the spectators being on both sides 

8 Petit de Julleville, op. cit., vol. I, p. 392. 
7 Mone, Sehauspiel des Mittelalters, p. 156. 



150 STAGE DECOEATION 

of the platform. The neutral ground was thus 
between the two rows of scenes; and Mone be- 
lieves that the maisons were without walls in 
order to allow a free view of the stage. This 
plan applies to a German Passion of the 
fifteenth century; but Petit de Julleville says 
in regard to this setting, that the stage decora- 
tion of the mysteries was the same throughout 
Europe in the Middle Ages. This is true only 
in a modified way. In fact, the variability of 
the setting from time to time and from place to 
place is remarkable. Thus in dealing with a 
plan of a stage, one must be careful not to gen- 
eralize too broadly from it. This arrangement, 
awkward as it is, without doubt existed in 
Germany and may have existed in Prance. The 
setting of the liturgical drama may have taken 
this form when placed in the nave of a church ; 
but it is to be remembered that the Adam play 
had a church for a background and could there- 
fore hardly admit of this method. The pro- 
logues seem to name the scenes as if they ex- 
tended in a straight or possibly curved line, but 
only showed one side to the audience. Surely 
this was true of scenery in an inclosed theater. 
In front of this scenery was the neutral 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 151 

ground upon which parts of the play were 
acted which required no scenery, such as cross- 
roads and battlefields. The rest of the action 
took place within the maisons where it was sup- 
posed to happen. We have no hesitation in mak- 
ing this categorical statement after having ex- 
amined the plays. There are constant references 
in the lines to exits and entrances. The plays just 
examined contain stage directions showing that 
the maisons are to be used by the characters and 
are not for mere decoration. The existence of 
such scenes is evidence in itself that the action 
was carried on within them. Had it been other- 
wise, had the audience been accustomed to 
watching the action on neutral ground, scenery 
would not have developed as it did. 8 

8 For editions of Michel's works Petit de Julleville,op. 
cit., vol. II, p. 439 and p. 446 should be consulted. 



CHAPTEE VIII 

Setting of Provencal Plays. Stage of Three Levels. 

The Provengal mysteries 1 throw light upon 
many points of stage decoration and bring evi- 
dence which corroborates that furnished by the 
northern mysteries. The mystery of the Cre- 
ation and the Fall shows the division of the 
two scenes of Paradise. God takes Adam and 
Eve by the hand and leads them into Paradise 
terrestre. Aras sen ane Dieu lo pay re en Para- 
dis. This is a second Paradise or Heaven, for 
when Adam and Eve have eaten of the Tree of 
Life (Valbre de vida) and have fled under a 
fig tree, then God descends from Paradise and 
goes to Terrestrial Paradise (verdier) which is 
on a lower plane. (Dieu lo pay re davale de 
Paradis he sen ane al verdier.) This play 
does not show that Terrestrial Paradise was 
above the stage proper, but the Jugement 

1 Mysteres Provencaux du quinzieme sieele. Jeanroy et 
Teulie. Toulouse, 1893. 

152 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 153 

General of this collection gives evidence of such 
an arrangement. 

Each actor had his place on the stage as in 
the northern mysteries, and there was some- 
times a real exit for the purpose of changing 
costume. Thus in the Jugement de Jesus: 
the judges, counsellors, etc., se devo partir del 
escadaffal he se devo anar abilhar en lo secret, 
cascun segon son abilhamen; he apres devo venir 
cascun en son loc, he quant seran asetiatz. . . . 
Lights can also be changed in these representa- 
tions, for in another play we read: Aras aprop 
que las tenebras son fachas. Morice believed 
that darkness and light were made by lowering 
and raising gauze curtains, as water is repre- 
sented to-day in the Rheingold. 2 Torches may 
also have been used. Such scenes would not be 
difficult in a closed theater, but must have been 
more or less failures in the open air. In the 
Assomption de la Vierge, when light is needed, 
the direction occurs: et doit-on jecter flambees 
par dessoubz. 3 

Gates instead of a dragon's head seem to have 
been the setting of Hell in the Provencal Resur- 

2 Morice: op. cit., p. 115. 

3 Petit de Julleville, les Mysteres, vol. II, p. 471. 



154 STAGE DECOEATION 

rection. When Christ is to enter Hell the stage 
direction says: Aras Sant Miquel he Gabriel 
s'en ano an Jhesus dava (n) t los enfernis. Then 
Lucifer speaks from within. The line : Ubretz 
vos, port as infernals, describes the entrance. 
There is a short scene in Hell which had to exist 
through the very nature of the plot. Thus the 
interior of Hell must have been visible just as 
was the interior of Paradise, although gates 
served as an entrance. (Aras se ubrisquo las 
portas de paradis. . . .) 

The Jugement General of this Provencal col- 
lection shows a stage of three levels. The scene 
is carefully described. Et primo Nostre Serihor 
deu estre asetiat en una cadieyra ben parada he 
deu mostrar totas sas plaguas, en presentia de 
totz, totas dauradas. He apres hy deu aver 
quatre angiels, dos de cascun costat: que la hun 
porte la crotz, he Vautre lo pilar he la corda 
liada an lo pilar he Vautre los clavels he los 
foetz, he Vautre la lansa he Vesponsia. He hy deu 
aver una cadieyra ben parada per asetiar Nostra 
Dama, quant sera hora, al costat drech de son 
filh. (We learn from a later direction that, 
before this time, ^otre Dame is to be en sa 
cambra tota sola en sa cadieyra. . . .) He hy 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 155 

deu aver dos angi{e)ls, cascun an sa trompeta, 
he en paradis deu estre Sant Miquel he gran cop 
de angials anb el. He los Sans devo estre a 
Vautre escadafal (evidently not in Paradise) 
cascun en son loc, ordenatz an bancz. He deu 
portar Sant Piere sa tier a coma papa, he los 
emperados he reis segon lor estat, habilhatz 
segon lor esse las vestimentas, qui verdas, qui 
negras, qui an mosa. He i aura emperadors, 
reys, he d{e) glieza, he femnas abilhatz segon 
lor esse; los Juzieus seran ense(n)ble he los 
autres aitant be, he venran quant seran apelatz 
per los angials. Los demonis seran a part, quant 
seran vengutz de infern, he seran devant Dieu 
eternal he auran aguda lor centensia. Nostra 
Dama tota sola sera en son loc irquamen dbilhada 
en lo escadafal gran, he estara aqui tro que sera 
hora de venir. {Escadafal gran probably means 
stage proper in distinction from tbe scenes 
above.) Justicia he Misericord (i) a he Vida 
seran totas ensemps sus lo escadafal gran. La 
Mort sera en son loc sur lo escadafal. Los 
Juzieus seran a part a X escadafal gran, coma 
so: Melchisedec, Aymo, Lamec, Zorobabel. Los 
ydolatres seran a part sus lo escadafal, coma so : 
Abiatar, Salatiel, Piqua-ausel, Talhafer, Tie 



156 STAGE DECOKATION 

d' autres. Lo malvatz crestias seran a part coma 
los autres coma so: Symon, Aniquet, Mella, 
Amon he los autres. Los religioas bernardins, 
carmes, auguistis, predicadors, cordelies, meno- 
retas coma so: Nason, Mathatias, Semey, Ami- 
nadas, Balam, Hobet. 

Paradise is above the stage as is proved by 
tbe direction: Aras s'en davalo los angials a 
Vescadafal. . . . One goes to one end, the 
other to the opposite end. They are also di- 
rected to mount into Paradise: . . . he apres, 
quant s'en seran montatz en paradis, los mortz se 
levaran, los huns dels tombels he los autres de 
locz segretz, he venran totses davant Dieu he 
se metran de ginolhos sans dire mot. Hapres 
los salvatz s'en montaran en hun escadafal plus 
has que paradis, a la part dextra. Thns Para- 
dise is above all, but there is a kind of Ter- 
restrial Paradise above the rest of the stage 
not as high as the other Paradise. The damned 
souls are naturally on the lowest level, and on 
the other side of the stage: he los dapnatz 
demoraran al gran scadaffal, a la part senestra. 
This arrangement of the stage with the blessed 
and the damned at opposite ends is not unusual. 4 

4 See pp. 90, 118. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 157 

At least the exterior of Hell was represented 
on the stage, for when the trumpet has sounded 
Lucifer speaks dedins sans hubrir la porta; but 
the interior does not appear to have been visible. 
The damned enter Hell wailing and groaning. 
Then Hell closes. The saints mount into Para- 
dise singing. 



CHAPTER IX 

Pantomimes of the Fifteenth Century. Their Influ- 
ence on the Indoor Stage. 

The tableaux and pantomimes in which 
scenes from mysteries and miracles were repre- 
sented continued to be produced throughout the 
fifteenth century. At the entrance of Charles 
VI. and Henri V. into Paris in 1420 there was 
made un moult piteux mistere de la passion 
e Nostre Seigneur au vif as it is represented 
about the choir of the cathedral of Notre Dame. 
The scaffolding or stage was about a " hundred 
paces long." 1 At the entrance of the due de 
Beaufort in 1424 we learn from the same source 
that the mystery was represented as if the 
images were " nailed against the wall." When 
there was no action, the scenery must have been 
carefully set in order to make the story plain. 
The mere existence of such scenery before the 
eyes of the people must have had some effect 

1 Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris, Tuety. Paris, 1881, 
par. 291. 

158 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 159 

on the real stage of the period in making the 
scenery more sumptuous. A public accustomed 
to such sights would demand something more 
than a mere summary representation of places. 
The taste for great spectacles was fully aroused ; 
and it was satisfied, although stages had to be 
constructed in the open air to allow the scenes 
of almost unbridled fancy to be carried out. 

Not only were mysteries produced, but also 
allegorical scenes and scenes from miracle plays 
were mounted. In 1431, when Henry VI. en- 
tered Paris, the mistere depuis la conception 
Notre Dame jusques Joseph la mena en Egypte 
was given before the Hopital de la Trinite 
where the confrerie de la Passion was estab- 
lished. It would be interesting to know how 
much scenery was taken from within this theater 
and set outside for the occasion; and how 
much, constructed anew for this special per- 
formance, was used afterward within the 
theater. The stage of the pantomime ex- 
tended depuis ung pou par-deld Saint Sauveur 
jusques au bout de la rue Ernetal. No 
such spacious stage was possible within the 
Hopital de La Trinite whose dimensions are 



160 STAGE DECOEATION 

given as 21% X 6 toises. 2 Thus the number of 
scenes represented at one time would be lessened 
when the same mystery was given within doors, 
either by cutting certain scenes or by changing 
scenery. But since the confrerie was probably 
the producer of this mystery — it being given 
before its theater — the influence of the silent 
mysteries on the spoken mysteries is plain to 
be seen. 

At this same entrance the legend of St. Denis 
was given at the Porte 8, Denis; and the ser- 
aines du Ponceau Saint Denis attracted much 
attention. Car la avoit trois seraines moult 
bien ordonnees; et ou milieu avoit ung lis qui 
par ses fleurs et boutons gectoit vin et lait . . . 
et dessus avoit ung petit bois ou il y avoit 
Tiommes sauvages qui faisoient esbatemens en 
plusieurs manieres et jouoient des escus moult 
joieusement. There was also a "hunt for a 
live deer most pleasant to see." At the Chatelet 
the allegorical scene of the bed of Justice was 
exhibited. 3 

More of such scenes were exhibited in 1437 
at the entrance of Charles VII. Devant le 

2 See p. 192 for discussion of these figures. 

3 Journal d 'un bourgeois, par. 589 ff . 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 161 

Chastelet esioit un grand Rocher et Terrasse 

convert d'un Boccage et pastis agreable oil 

estoient les Pastoureaux avec leurs brebis . . . 

et audessous V Arcade dudit Rocher estoit un 

Lict de Justice . . . et contre les Boucheries 

estoient representez le Paradis, le Purgatoire, et 

FEnfer. 4 The same scene is described by 

Enguerrand de Monstrelet showing that the 

pastoral scene is the annunciation made to the 

shepherds by an angel. 5 He also adds that the 

scene set contre la boucherie was the Judgment, 

and that St. Michel was weighing the souls. 

Jean Chartier in his Chronique de Charles 

VII. 6 reports many scenes at the entrance into 

Gand of Monseigneur de Bourgogne in 1458. 

The first, which had a real setting, was a 

" garden or orchard in which there was a young 

girl about ten years old." The return of the 

prodigal was represented. Cicero was seen 

pleading before Caesar, who was surrounded by 

twelve senators. Dedens ladite porte eult ung 

autre eschajfault, et ou melieu avoit une fontaine 

et a Venviron Vestat de VEglise triumphant. 

4 Freres Parf aict, vol. II, p. 171. 
6 Edition Buehon, vol. VI, p. 357. 

6 Edition of the Biblioteque elzevirienne, vol. Ill, 
p. 81 ff. 

11 



162 STAGE DECOKATION 

Unfortunately this last scene is not described. 
Near this was a shepherd who has collected his 
strayed sheep. The river was cleverly utilized 
for the scene of Christ walking on the water, 
and " St. Peter wishing to go to Our Lord . . . 
and seeing himself in danger of being drowned " 
dist par escript: Domine salvum me fac. 
Almost every scene had some such explanatory 
motto, especially the figures of the prophets 
which occurred at intervals. An extensive scene 
was one of a forteresse a deux tournelles a deux 
carreaulx at the door of which stood a giant, 
Mars, and beside him was a lion. In front of 
the fortress there was a wood, in which there 
were dragons, wolves, foxes, etc., which seemed 
to wish to enter the stronghold. Et estoit 
devant ladite porte ung homme representant les 
trois Estatz de mondit seigneur, cest assavoir 
sur la teste comme homme d'Eglise, du coste 
dextre d'une robhe longue de drap de soye, le 
coste senextre comme laboureur des champs. 
There was also an elephant portant ung chas- 
teau on which were two men and four children 
singing. In all there were eighteen scaffoldings. 
There were also different levels in the setting 
of these pantomimes, for in 1484 at the en- 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 163 

trance of Charles VIII. into Paris the follow- 
ing arrangement is noted by an anonymous 
chronicler as having been made at the Chatelet : 

II y avoit un grand Eschaffaut, 

Ou illec un Roy se seet 

Par dessus les autres, au plus haut. 7 

The same document recounts that Judas was 
seen hanged on a tree. Done en Enfer il de- 
scendit. If this latter action was visible the 
spectators must have seen Hell on a lower level. 

Going out of France for the moment we find 
at Antwerp, in 1494, an ingenious scene in 
which was un chasteau pendant en aer, de six 
a sept pieds de hault, et aultant de large, lequel, 
par sublilite d'engiens, mena moult et horrible 
bruict. 8 

The entrance of Marie d'Angleterre in 1514 
was an occasion for several novel allegorical 
scenes. On one scaffolding was a grand Navire 
d'argent voguant sur la mer. The ship must 
have been of good size for in it were found 
Bacchus, a queen, sailors, etc. At the four 
corners of the sea the winds were personified in 
the shape of four grands Monstres soufflans. 

7 Freres Parfaict, vol. II, p. 177. 

8 Chroniques de Jean Molinet, vol. V, p. 14, ed. Buchon. 



164 STAGE DECOEATION 

At the Fontaine du Ponceau there was a garden 
within which stood a lily and a red rose bush. 
At the Chatelet, Justice and Truth were de- 
scending from the celestial throne upon Earth; 
and on the right and the left were the douze 
Paris de France, 

Again in 1517 in Paris, we find different 
levels existing. At the entrance of Queen 
Claude there was an Eschaffaut et au plus Inaut 
estoit un del clos et par dessus une nuee, 
laquelle s'ouvroit, dont sortoit une Colonibe. 
Another scaffolding was surmounted by a sun 
within which stood Charity. Below her were 
five goddesses, and below them were ten persons 
including the pope and the emperor. 9 

Thus these spectacles continue even down to 
the seventeenth century. Their influence on 
out-door spoken mysteries has already been rec- 
ognized; but at the same time the influence 
must have been reciprocal. When the confrerie 
represented a pantomime or tableaux in front 
of the theater they naturally took at least some 
of their scenery with them. Petit de Julle- 
ville calls attention to the fact that allegorical 
scenes became common in the latter part of the 

Treres Parfaict, vol. II, p. 191 ff. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 165 

fifteenth century and that their object was to 
flatter some powerful person. In the Jeu de la 
Feuillee we saw an allegorical scene in the shape 
of the Wheel of Fortune, thus these scenes were 
not foreign to the stage. Yet, just as the Pas- 
sion Play was influenced by these tableaux, so 
undoubtedly the miracle and morality plays 
owed something in their stage decoration to such 
scenes as those recorded above. The morality 
depended much upon costumes; and costumes 
played a large part in these shows which also 
served to keep aroused the taste for realism, 
exactness and finally, , elaborateness of scenery 
which characterize the scenery of the late 
Middle Ages and Eenaissance. All kinds of 
scenes were presented on a large scale from the 
scenes in the life of Renart to the crucifixion. 
Thus the whole theater, religious and comic, 
must have felt this influence in some degree; 
but the religious stage felt it most strongly, 
especially when constructed out of doors when, 
in spite of the prodigious length, the scenery 
not " the play is the thing." 



CHAPTEE X 

Stage of the Vie de Saint Martin on Three Levels. 
Number of Scenes. Settings of Other Miracle Plays of 
the 15th Century. Comparison of these Plays with the 
Miracles de Notre Dame. Miracles of the 16th Century. 
A Stage on One Level. The Use of the Dragon's Head. 
The Actes des Apotres. 

The early miracle plays, as has been seen, 
demanded a stage of two levels ; but the setting 
of the Hell scene became more and more popu- 
lar, and in the Vie de Saint Martin 1 an ex- 
ample is found of a miracle play which not only 
demands a scene in Hell, but also evidently dis- 
poses its scenery on three levels. The prologue 
gives the setting of the stage as follows : 

Premier voilla en hault assis 
Jesuchrist en son paradis, 
Et la doulce vierge Marie, 
Les anges en sa compaignie, 

*Le Mystere de la vie et hystoire de monseigneur 
sainct Martin. Collection de Poesie, Eomans, Chroniques 
etc. publiee d'apres d'anciens Manuscrits et d'apres les 
editions des XV s et XVP sieeles. Paris. 
166 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 167 

Sainct Pierre et sainte Cecille 

Saincte Agnes qui est bien habille. 

Et voicy le roy de hongrie, 

Chevaliers en sa compaignie 

Son filz martin est pres de luy, 

Et la prince de la ioste luy. 

Cestuy qui est en eest arroy 

Si est le messagier du roy. 

Voyez cy prestre en leur chappelle, 

Qui leur semble bonne et belle. 

Icy est la maison du prince, 

Qui est seigneur de la province; 

Ses chevaliers sont la dedans 

Et grant partie de ses gens. 

Sa est le conte de millan, 
Sa femme o luy sans ahan, 
La soeur sainct martin la contesse. 
Et voyez son filz de grant noblesse 
Leurs chevaliers et leurs heraulx. 

Et voyez en cest eschauffaulx 
Le capitaine dudit conte 
Ses chevaliers sont bien du compte. 

Voyez Thermit en ce boys la, 
Qui sainct martin batisera. 

Et voicy le pauvre nud 
Qui par sainct martin sera revestu 

Voicy marmoustier et Fabbe 
Et son secretain en arroy. 

Voicy l'homme qui se pendra 
Et sa femme qu'il occira. 

Voicy ceulx qui fera dacord 
Dequoy Fun deulx sera le mort. 



168 STAGE DECOBATION 

Voicy Tours en eest estre icy; 
L'archevesque y est aussi, 
L'archediacre sans faillir, 
Est avee luy pour le servir. 

Cy est le taillandier sa fille 
Et sa femme sans nulle guise. 

Et aussi voicy par deca 
Cil qui le vestement aura 
Qui luy sera par trop petit. 

Cestuy qui a cest autre habit 
Est un mesel trestout pourry, 
Qui de martin sera guary. 

Le pape est la en ceste estre, 
Qui est de l'eglise le maistre. 
Son messager est devant luy 
Qui fait les messages pour luy. 

Icy aussi est sainct Ambroyse 
Et son cler vous pouez veoir. 

Voicy le clop et Paveugle, 
Guaris seront vueillent ou non vueillent. 
Diables sont en enfer la-bas 
Lucifer et les sathanas. 

The objection may be raised that the word 
la-bas does not necessarily mean " down there " 
when applied in this play and in others to the 
setting of Hell. Yet the word occurs very often 
in lines referring to Hell, and is synonymous 
with en has (Greban, line 33488). Greban 
uses the word descendre with it in line 12197: 



IN EEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 169 

et la-has au limbe descende, while the phrase 
lassus au limbe, even though in the unacted 
prologue, shows Greban's idea of the level of 
Hell proper. These expressions occur too often 
to be merely rhetorical. The opposite expres- 
sions, la-haut, en ~haut, monter applied to 
Heaven, are not found to be rhetorical. If the 
prologue be read, one feels that the author by 
beginning with Heaven en haut and ending his 
enumeration with Hell la-bas (down there) has 
wished to bring out the contrast between the 
two scenes naming the highest, first, and the 
lowest, last, in order. The place of Heaven can 
admit of no discussion: en Tiault is exact. If 
Hell were on the same level with the rest of the 
stage why is la-bas used for Hell alone ? Why 
does the author not continue with voicy, voila, 
or la when he points out Hell unless he uses 
la-bas meaning " down there " ? The word can 
hardly be ambiguous, used as it is, in this pas- 
sage; and the prologue calls for three levels of 
the stage. Also, judging from the way in which 
the scenes are enumerated, we again have the 
arrangement of the stage with Heaven at one 
end and Hell at the other. The same plan is 
used in the My sieve des Trois Doms: et en 



170 STAGE DECOEATION 

oultre au dessus y avoit paradis devers le levant 
et enfer au cochant. 

All of the characters named in the prologue 
did not have a maison. The directions and lines 
of the play serve to give information left out 
naturally in the prologue, because when it was 
recited the scenery was before the audience and 
the scenes only needed naming, not description. 
The Roy de Hongrie had a maison, for Martin 
sleeps there when he is crowned. Also the due 
de Millan speaks of his house, saying Montez ga 
hault, venez ceans. Other houses are those of 
the prince, the captain, and the pope. The city 
of Tours was shown and one line mentions the 
gate of Paris which is not among the scenes enu- 
merated in the prologue. The hermit lives in a 
wood as usual. There is a chapel and a moustier, 
the latter scene being well constructed. There 
is an altar in it. (Icy sen vont pres de Vautel.) 
At least one pillar supports its roof, for a direc- 
tion reads Lors s'en va apres elles a Veglise der- 
riere un pillier, the word eglise evidently refer- 
ring to the moustier. Near, and perhaps con- 
nected with this scene of the moustier and form- 
ing a part of it, is the room of Martin which is 
reached by steps. When the devil has rung in 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 171 

order that Martin may be called to the moustier, 
Martin starts et en entrant aux degrez il tombe 
du hault en has. In commenting on this play, 
Petit de Julleville says that nineteen different 
scenes were represented at once. 2 But even if 
the gate of Paris be counted — it may have been 
behind the scenes — and the chambrette of Martin 
be reckoned as a separate scene, there are only 
fourteen different scenes really set. Not all 
characters enumerated in the prologue had a 
separate scene. 

The Vie de Saint Barbe needed Heaven and 
Hell; the maison for Marcian and his people; 
maison of Dioscorus; maison of the four ty- 
rants; a prison; maison of the prevost; two 
chambres in which St. Barbe appears. The 
gibbet may be counted as a " property " rather 
than as a scene, while the place of the messen- 
gers and that of the beggars were probably not 
decorated. Thus there were nine scenes, one of 
which at least was not on the same level with 
the rest. 3 

Somewhat more complicated was the stage 
for the representation of the Vie de Saint Cle- 

2 Op. tit., vol. II, p. 536. 

8 Petit de Julleville counts eleven or twelve, op. tit., 
vol. II, p. 486. 



172 STAGE DECOEATION 

ment, when the following scenes were set: the 
imperial palace and the Forum at Rome; the 
Alps; the citadelle of Elegie; a forest; an 
amphitheater before the Serpenoise Gate at 
Metz ; palace of the governor ; a tavern ; another 
inn; a cemetery; Paradise and Hell. The 
Moselle Valley and the public square noted by 
Petit de Julleville 4 were probably on neutral 
ground. 

This number is very much reduced, in turn, 
in the Mystere de Saint Laurent 5 in which there 
are eight scenes: Heaven and Hell, and six 
maisons. These indications are given in a pro- 
logue. The scenes are numbered and the text 
indicates all changes of scene. 

The Mystere de Saint Vincent also explains 
the following scenes in its prologue: Heaven; 
Hell; Palace of Diocletian; Palace of Max- 
imian ; the Roman senate in the Capitol ; Palace 
of Dacian ; wood ; Valence ; maison of Valerian ; 
temple; prison; boat. 6 

4 Op. tit., vol. II, p. 494. 

6 Acta Societatis scientiarum Fennicse, vol. XVIII, 
p. 111. Published by Soderhjelm and Wallenskold. 

6 For Prologue see Cohen, Histoire de la mise- en-scene, 
pp. 76-77. Petit de Julleville adds one more scene — 
maison des ensevelisseurs — which was probably without 
decoration. Op. cit., vol. II, p. 563. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 173 

These miracles differ little from the more 
complicated Miracles de Notre Dame in number 
and kind of scenes produced. Twelve scenes is 
about the highest number they reach, although 
one or two may have gone beyond this limit. 
There is this difference, however, that the Mir- 
acles de Notre Dame make little of the scene of 
Heaven, and Hell is very rarely shown, while 
in these plays, although Heaven is not as great 
a scene as in the Passion plays nor is Hell set 
so carefully, yet both of these scenes have grown 
in importance. The lack of directions in these 
plays, showing just how scenery was set, is again 
indicative of the fact that less attention was 
paid to their setting as a rule. Also, although 
the setting of Heaven and Hell did become im- 
portant in the fifteenth century, there are plays 
even in this period and later in which these 
scenes do not appear at all or are unimportant. 
In 8. Bernard de Menthon 7 Heaven is repre- 
sented above the stage, but little of the action 
takes place in it, while Hell may not have been 
visible at all. When the devils enter they are 
directed to come " de loing" The scene of 
Hell, if set at all, was of practically no use to 

7 Soc. des ans. textes frangais, vol. 25. 



174 STAGE DECOEATION 

the action. If the mystery of the Siege d' Or- 
leans was played, no Hell scene added any 
interest to the play, while in Paradise there 
were only five characters: God, St. Michel, 
Notre Dame, St. Euverte and St. Aignan. The 
mystery of S. Louis by Gringore, produced 
about 1514, contained neither a scene in Heaven 
nor Hell, but required a stage of one level. 
Even in plays dealing with the life of Christ, 
such as the play of the Nativite reprinted in 
the Silvestre collection, Hell is not visible. The 
stable is shown, and the floor is covered with 
straw. There is a pastoral scene. Heaven is 
above the stage, but it is a scene of little im- 
portance. Excerpts from the larger Passion 
Plays similar to this one must have been pro- 
duced very often, and a stage would be set with- 
out the Hell scene. Therefore we must again 
refrain from deciding upon the typical stage 
of the period. 

The mystery of the Trois Boms, 9, given at 
Romans in 1509, was mounted with great care 
for scenic effect. The stage was raised upon 
pillars and stood in the courtyard of the con- 

8 Mystere des Trois Doms joue a Eomans en MDIX. 
Giraud. Lyon, 1888. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 175 

vent of the Cordeliers. It was "36 pas ou 18 
toises 3 de long et la moitie de ces dimensions de 
large/' 9 (The toise=l meter 949 mil. in 
1789.) The description of the stage is given 
in part as follows, in the expense book: 10 Et 
samblablement sur ladicte platte form estoit 
litelle entremy des villes, cites, comme Borne, 
Vienne, Lion, et aultres et les sieges esleves cellon 
les personnages; et tons les jours change la sta- 
tion cellon le mister e; et lequel clodis estoit 
peynt tout en gris comme liteaulx et tours, et sur 
ladicte platte forme estoit le premier jour tout 
convert de verdure, le second de fleurs de dv- 
verses coleurs le tiers de rozes; et en oultre au 
dessus y avoit paradis devers le levant et enfer 
au cochant. This arrangement of scenery with 
Heaven at one side of the stage has occurred so 
often that it cannot be said that on the stage of 
the Middle Ages Heaven dominates all. 11 At 
times, as has been shown, the scene in Heaven 
demanded a large area; but also this setting 
must be kept in mind where the scene was 
placed merely at one end of the stage and on a 
higher level. 

9 Op. cit., p. xliv. 
M Op. cit., p. 592. 
11 Petit de Julleville, les Mysteres, vol. I, pp. 388, 402. 



176 STAGE DECOKATION 

There was more scenery than the maisons 
mentioned above as is learned from the follow- 
ing item in the expense book : Item, plus seront 
tenus lesd. chapuys dedans lad. plate forme 
faire tours toumelles, chasteaulx, villes de 
boys. . . . Thus the cities were not always 
summarily represented by the gate and wall as 
the famous Valenciennes miniature would lead 
one to believe ; but the buildings were also shown, 
as is seen from the action and the stage direc- 
tions. In Vienne, for instance, there is a scene 
in a theater : 8' en vont au theatre, ei s'asiet sus 
les bans alentour. In Eome there are maisons 
as well as the porte de Rome representing the 
city. At the same time the characters have 
their seats ; and these and the rest of the scenery 
are changed from day to day celon que le mistere 
le requerra. Thus was the number of scenes 
kept down even on an open air stage. 

Little can be known about the setting of 
Heaven in this play except that it opens and 
closes. Once a petit Dieu appears in the middle 
of a sun. Hell is entered through a dragon's 
head. (Entre dedans enfert tous, et puis la 
gueule se clost . . . Sortira par Voreille destre 
d'enfert.) The interior of Hell is none the less 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 177 

open to view for Proserpine speaks sans se 
bouger d'enfert, and naturally a character who 
is speaking is seen by the audience. What part 
then does the dragon's head play in this setting 
and in others of which it forms a part? Is it 
the entrance to the regions in Hell where action 
takes place; or does it serve as an exit; and 
when the devils passed through it were they lost 
to view? Petit de Julleville says: Le premier 
plan de la scene . . . recouvrait et cachait 
Venfer, et lui ouvrait un passage par une trappe 
cachee derriere un rideau, qui representait une 
tete Jiideuse et grimagante. . . . (les Mys- 
teres, vol. 1, p. 388.) But the interior of Hell 
was visible to the spectators in many plays as 
we have been careful to prove ; and such an ar- 
rangement would not permit the action to be 
seen which was carried on within Hell. Prob- 
ably the scene was set so that the devil, in going 
to the side of the stage where Hell was supposed 
to be, would reach the dragon's head and would 
pass through it and be still in view of the au- 
dience during the scenes in Hell. The drag- 
on's head would therefore face the stage, not the 
spectators. If the jaws formed a real exit, a 
trap through which the devils went, the setting 
12 



178 STAGE DECOEATION 

could not be considered as an entrance to that 
part of the Hell scene visible to the spectators ; 
but it was merely an entrance to the depths of 
Hell, the parfont, which was thus hidden from 
view but from which smoke, and noise, and 
devils arose. The dragon's head may have 
"hidden and covered" a part of Hell in this 
manner, but did not shut out the whole of 
Hell from view. 

Roy, in reconstructing the setting of Hell in 
the Jour du jugement 12 by aid of the minia- 
tures, places the dragon's jaws at the left of 
the theater behind which there is a wall with 
barred openings and a gate. But why are there 
two gates of Hell, one exterior, the other in- 
terior? The action does not demand two. If 
there were two, it would seem more probable 
that the dragon's jaws were in the interior. 
Their presence could then be explained by the 
fact that they served as an apparent entrance 
to the depths and a real exit for the devils. But 
Boy is trying to explain the two representations 
of the entrance of Hell in the miniatures by the 
possibility of both gates and jaws having been 
shown on the stage. This confusion is rather 

12 Le Jour du jugement. Publie par Koy. Paris, 1902. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 179 

due to the artist who read the word gueule in 
the manuscript and drew one ; then, later — and 
who knows how much later — he read the word 
portes describing the entrance of Hell and drew 
them. Perhaps he had forgotten about the 
gueule; perhaps he wished to vary his illustra- 
tions. At any rate we must not feel called upon 
to explain the different turns of the imagina- 
tion of the artists. 

The Vie de S. Didier, 13 played at Langres 
in 1482, is an example of a play which required 
the setting of Hell in the form of a dragon's 
head and nothing more. There is no scene in 
Hell. The devils swarm out of it on the stage. 
The tortures which take place within are " mes- 
sengered." The gueule d'enfer here plays the 
role of a mere exit which has been so often 
ascribed to it. The diablerie is a diverting part 
of the action; but the setting of Hell is not 
designed to arouse great interest. There is 
nothing in the text of the play nor in the stage 
directions to indicate that Heaven was either 
richly or carefully set. The scenic display was 
centered in one locality, the city of Langres. 
The prologue reads in part as follows: 

18 Vie et passion de monseigneur Sainet Didier. Guil- 
laume Flamang. Paris, 1855. 



180 STAGE DECOEATION 

Veez la Lengres, en hault assise, 
Plus noble que tous aultres lieux; 
Veez la les seigneurs de l'Eglise 
Et les borgeoys jeunes et vieulx. 
Veez la Didier au labourage, 
Qui tient la cherrue a deux mains ; 
Veez la ung haultain personnage, 
Nomme l'empereur des Romains j 
Croscus et le roy des Alains 
Ont illec leurs gens amassez; 
Je n'en diray ne plus ne mains; 
Le demeurant se monstre assez. 

The other settings which were so easily recog- 
nizable were Heaven and Hell. The city of 
Aries appears as a location, hut does not ap- 
pear to have been marked by special scenery. 
In the Third Day, Paris is mentioned : Car vesci 
Paris la cite; but as this scene is not needed 
until the latter part of the play, it would not be 
set until later. Thus the prologue is silent con- 
cerning it. 

The setting of Langres is one of the remark- 
able scenes of the Middle Ages. Here is no 
mere gate to represent a city, but a city itself 
in miniature. One of the characters de- 
scribes it: 

Voyla le lieu d'antiquite, 

Les tours, les portes et l'eglise. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 181 

This is by no means rhetorical, for the towers, 
the gates, and the church are needed by the 
action and must have been shown. The church 
contained an altar, and later the tomb of Didier. 
Also the pulpit, over which a cloth is spread 
when Didier preaches, is probably in the church. 
The city is surrounded by walls large enough 
to contain the citizens when they are besieged. 
The tower upon which the guard stands con- 
tains a clock. (Les Bourgeoys . . . s'en vont 
sur les murs; la Quelle monte en une tourelle 
oil il y aura une cloche. ) The gate of the city can 
be closed. All this was set upon scenery repre- 
senting "dark-colored rock" (roche bise). As 
the prologue tells us, the city was above the rest 
of the stage, and, as the lines indicate, had the 
appearance of being on a high mountain. (Sur 
la haulte montaigne assise.) Yet even with 
this realistic setting, chairs are still used by the 
characters. (Icy les bourgeoys el le bailli de 
Lengres se levenl de leurs sieges. . . .) Eome 
itself seems to have no other setting than the 
throne of Honorius. 

The siege of Langres was very life-like. 
When the barbarians arrive there is a pause 
in the lines in order that they may make their 



182 STAGE DECOEATION 

besieging works. (Pausa pour faire le pare) 
The battle is carried on as follows: Adonc 
tirent aucunes serpentines ou couleuvrines et 
ceulx de Lengres gectent pierres et aultres traits. 
. . . Lors est le feu bonte en ladite Ville. The 
interior and exterior of the city must have been 
visible at the same time, and this would be ar- 
ranged by removing the wall toward the au- 
dience. Since the barons are summoned from 
one place, as is plainly seen by the action, 
although they are supposed to hold different 
chateaus, all of the set scenes have been de- 
scribed above. They are few; but the scene of 
Langres shows a great advance in the repre- 
sentation of a city. 

A stage upon which neither Heaven nor Hell 
was represented served for the Vie de S. Louis 
by Gringore. Thus the stage sometimes con- 
sisted of but one level even in the religious 
plays. As for the rest of the setting it was 
very simple. The play is divided into several 
" books " each of which was perhaps given sepa- 
rately. Five or six well-known scenes, such as 
a church, a palace, a wood, etc., serve usually 
for each act. In the seventh book there is a 
palace, a wood, executioners, fire and pillar, and 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 183 

an abbey. The setting for the action of the 
eleventh book required a mill, a river, the mon- 
astery of St. Denis, a ditch. The latter was well 
enough constructed to carry out the direction: 
Icy tombe la terre sur eulx. 

There are then many kinds of stages for 
miracle plays. As far as levels are concerned, 
we find settings on one, two, and three levels. 
As a rule Heaven and Hell are of less impor- 
tance in these plays and do not seem to have 
been as carefully set as in plays dealing with 
the life of Christ. There are two distinct set- 
tings for Hell. In the one, the dragon's head 
served as a mere exit and the interior of Hell 
was not shown ; in the other, the interior of Hell 
was visible and the dragon's head was either an 
entrance into Hell or an exit into an imaginary 
part of Hell. It is difficult to say which of 
these roles the dragon's head fulfilled. Also in 
some of the plays the entrance to the visible 
part of Hell was no doubt figured by gates. It 
is erroneous to believe that the dragon's head 
always appeared, and that it alone represented 
Hell. 

One of the greatest spectacles was the repre- 
sentation of the Actes des Apotres which began 



184 STAGE DECOKATION 

at Bourges on April 30th, 1536, and lasted for 
forty days. The whole town aided in the pres- 
entation of this play, which demanded five 
hundred actors and which was mounted in an 
ancient Roman amphitheater. The list of prop- 
erties and machines 14 has been preserved and 
furnishes many interesting details in regard to 
the performance. The scenery itself does not 
seem to have differed from that of contemporary 
plays given in the open air. Heaven and Hell 
were both represented and there were the usual 
maisons. The scenery was changed to suit the 
action no doubt, as was the general rule, from 
day to day and not merely from book to book 
of the play as Petit de Julleville implies. 

Paradise opens and closes: . . . par ouver- 
ture des cieulx et aparicion de Jhesuscrist seant 
a la dextre de son pere. A vessel descends from 
Paradise full of all kinds of beasts and then 
returns. Another clever machine is described 
as follows: Fault quit soit envoy e de paradis 
jusques sur led. monument une nue ronde en 
forme de couronne ou aye plusieurs anges 
faincts tenant en leurs mains espies nues et 

14 Le Mystere des apotres reprSsente a Bourges en avril 
1536. A. de Girardot. Paris, Didron, 1854. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 185 

dards, et fault sil est 'possible quil y en ait de 
vifs pour chanter. 

The light effects are carefully noted : et fault 
que en lad. prison apparoisse grande lumiere. 
At another time there descends upon the Cen- 
acle du feu en especes de langues avec clarte. 
Again the face of St. Etienne appears luisant 
comme le soleil. 

There are trap doors, for the devils come 
from below earth in the form of dogs; and 
another direction reads : Fault que St. Mathieu 
soit mis soubz terre en lieu oil il puisse alter 
par dessoubz se mectre au mailleu de E phi- 
genie. . . . 

Many temples with idols are represented, as 
for example: Fault ung temple en Suanier, et 
en iccelluy a coste dextre doit avoir ung chariot 
d'or tire a beufz, et dessus une lune, et du coste 
senestre ung autre tire a chevaulx et dessus ung 
soleil d'or. One of the other temples collapses 
on the stage. 

Maisons are used as is customary : Fault ung 
hostel pour St. Pierre qui soit pare avec une 
chaire ou il sera comme tenant le siege apos- 
tolique. Thus the chaire alone did not repre- 
sent the scene. Another maison is in the form 



186 STAGE DECOEATION 

of a haute tour faicte en forme de capitole sur 
laquelle montera Symon Magus pour voller, et 
y doit venir une nue collisse, a demy ronde, pour 
Veslever en Vair. ... A very unusual scene is 
that of the siege pare en Vair pres Paradis pour 
Justice divine. 

The ship which takes St. Paul to Eome 
bears coffres et autre mesnage pour gecter en 
la mer de la navire et fault que le matz de la 
navire se rompe en deux pieces. The steering 
of the ship is accomplished by a polye au 
matz et une cheville en terre, et passer une 
corde en lad. polye pour virer lad. navire. 
Once the sea gives forth its dead for a moment : 
Doit venir sur Veaue plusieurs autres corps 
mors agitez des vagues qui se pourront retirer 
soubz terre quant temps sera. 

The machines for this production were quite 
remarkable. The stage decoration was perhaps 
the most interesting part of the whole repre- 
sentation. Neither pains nor time nor money 
was spared by the town of Bourges to make the 
spectacle a success. With it, we leave the open 
air mystery, this wonderful combination of 
pageant and drama — drama in the wider sense 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 187 

— and we turn to the inclosed theater. It is to 
be hoped that these great scenic displays have 
not been described at such length as to cause 
one to overrate their importance in the develop- 
ment of stage decoration. 



CHAPTEE XI 

The Indoor Stage at Paris. Dimensions of Stages. 
The Question of Two Eows of Scenes on Separate Ele- 
vations. Setting of the Vieil Testament. Number of 
Scenes Set at One Time. Heaven and Hell Not the Most 
Important Scenes. 

In beginning his discussion of stage decora- 
tion, Morice said : " It is not in Paris that the 
stage decoration must be studied in order to 
form a just idea of it. There, the confreres 
enclosed in the four walls of a building never 
had anything but a circumscribed theater and 
a cramped stage. It is in the magnificent rep- 
resentations executed in the principal provincial 
towns and which sometimes necessitated whole 
years of preparation ... it is there that one 
must transport himself in imagination in order 
to seize the vast workings of this strange spec- 
tacle in all its development." 1 This point of 
view has been too often taken because the great 

1 Morice, Histoire de la mise-en-scene depuis les mys- 
teres jusqu 'au Cid, p. 32. 

188 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 189 

spectacles are more curious and because there is 
more information to be had concerning their 
setting. Although Paris was not so completely 
the center of dramatic art as it became later, jet 
when we consider the inclosed stage of the Buy 
de Notre Dame, which is believed to have been 
near the Hopital de la Trinite, and the inclosed 
stage of the confrerie placed in the Hopital de 
la Trinite, then transferred first to the Hotel de 
Flanders and finally to the Hotel de Bourgogne 
which Corneille and Moliere visited, is not the 
inclosed stage at least as important in the history 
of the French theater, if not more important, 
than the out-door stage? The religious and 
profane plays alike are produced within a per- 
manent theater. Whatever influence the drama 
of the Middle Ages may have exerted upon later 
Trench drama, the most of it must have come 
through the Hotel de Bourgogne and not from 
the irregular performances of plays in the 
open air. 

What, then, were the conditions which ex- 
isted in these theaters, for theaters they are in 
every sense of the word? What was the size 
of their stage in comparison with the out-door 
stage ? How did plays demanding such scenery 



190 STAGE DECOEATION 

as did the Actes des Apotres and the Vieil 
Testament admit of production on any small 
stage ? All these questions cannot be answered 
with entire accuracy and satisfaction ; but a 
general idea of these stages may be built up. 

The out-door stage could be very large. Yet 
its dimensions were by no means limitless, for 
the audience had to see the action even if the 
hearing of the lines was not indispensable. The 
stage at Eouen was 60 meters long. 2 This must 
have been more or less impracticable as far as 
the spectators were concerned. Large theaters 
are spoken of as having been erected at Metz in 
1437, at Yienne in 1510, at Autun in 1516, 
while Actes des Apotres had the roominess of 
an amphitheater in which to spread out its 
scenes. The largest theater, at least as far as 
seating capacity was concerned, was the theater 
erected at Autun in 1516. 3 However, the stage, 
which was 60 meters in length, was undoubtedly 
considered as extraordinarily spacious even in 
the Middle Ages. As has been shown, the num- 
ber of maisons set upon this stage at Rouen 
was larger than the usual number required at 

2 Cohen, op. cit., p. 87. 

3 Petit de Julleville, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 405. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 191 

one time. The stage of the Trois Doms erected 
at Romans was about 35 meters long and half 
as wide. 4 These figures may probably be ac- 
cepted as the average size of the out-door stage 
when a whole town was backing the enterprise 
financially. A somewhat smaller stage was one 
which measured 19 meters 50 by 4 meters 90. 5 
These temporary stages naturally varied greatly 
in size according to the play which was to be 
produced and the amount of money to be spent 
on the representation. 

The measurements of the Hopital de la 
Trinite were 6 X 21% toises® or somewhat less 
than 12 by 42 meters. The Hotel de Bour- 
gogne was built on a space of 16 X IT toises 7 
in size or about 31 by 33 meters. The stage 
and audience room together of the permanent 
theaters were about the size of an open-air stage 
of average dimensions. The narrowness of the 
first of these halls precludes the possibility of a 
stage running lengthwise, for if room for 
scenery and neutral ground be allowed on such 

4 See p. 174. 

5 Cohen, op. cit., p. 83. 

6 Petit de Julleville, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 420. 
T Eecueil des principaux titres concernant 1 'acquisition 

de . . . 1 'hostel de bourgoyne. Paris, 1632, p. 31. 



192 STAGE DECOBATION 

a stage there would be little room for spectators. 
The stage, then, may be conceived as occupying 
one end of the hall. It was therefore not quite 
12 meters across. Its depth is a matter for 
conjecture. Perhaps we are not far wrong in 
allowing five or six meters. The stage of the 
Hotel de Flandres which the confrerie occu- 
pied from 1539 to 1543 was probably of similar 
dimensions. It was in this theater that the 
Actes des Apotres and the Vieil Testament were 
produced. 

The in-door stage presented a very different 
appearance from the stage of the amphitheater 
set for the Actes des Apotres, There were 
fewer scenes set at the same time within the 
theater. Much of the splendor of the scenery 
must have been lost, and no doubt some of the 
machines were impracticable in so small space 
as was offered by any of these theaters. The 
mounting of these plays, however, was perfectly 
possible, and it must not be supposed that the 
scenery was more or less chaotic. It has already 
been shown that parts of plays could be cut 
out at will. 8 The manuscript of the mystery 
of Saint Genis also indicates passages which 

8 See p. 86. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 193 

were not given during a representation. 9 As 
scenery could be changed from day to day in 
the out-door productions, so it was changed in 
the theaters. The length of the performance 
was from one to five in the afternoon. 10 Thus 
the part of the play given in this length of time 
would not demand, as a general rule, very many 
different scenes. Cohen is of the opinion that 
the scenes were set on two levels in the inclosed 
theater, some of them forming a second story. 
It is thus that he explains the directions found 
in the Vieil Testament such as: If fault que 
icy soit Joseph descendu et assis en chair e, non 
pas au pare du roy mais ailleurs. 11 Pharaoh is 
seated en hault and also the doctors. Cohen 
publishes a miniature of Jean Fouquet showing 
a second story of a stage in which is found 
Paradise, the emperor, certain devils and some 
spectators. The question is a delicate one to 
decide, and Cohen has strong evidence in favor 
of his theory. Yet the procedure is strange in 
view of the realistic method of stage setting in 
vogue, which separated the levels so carefully. 

9 Petit de Julleville, op. cit., vol. II, p. 521. 

10 Cohen, op. cit., p. 86 ff. 
u See p. 91. 

13 



194 STAGE DECORATION 

Similar directions have already been found in 
some of the early plays of the Jubinal collec- 
tion; 11 and the conclusion was reached that this 
arrangement may have been employed to raise 
certain characters in their chairs or scenes above 
the stage so that they might be more easily seen. 
The Histoire de 8. Louis also shows the scenery 
raised above the stage in this manner by such 
directions as : Tons montent en hault; Le conte 
de Provence monte en Jiaut; II vont a la royne 
Blanche sans descendre. Thus while a few 
steps may have led up to this scenery which was 
raised in order to be better seen, there is no 
evidence that it formed a second story, and that 
other scenes were set directly under it. Is it 
not such an arrangement which Jean Fouquet 
has attempted to reproduce in the miniature? 
The Hell's mouth is below the rest of the 
scenery. The torture takes place on neutral 
ground. Heaven is on one side of the stage; 
Hell is on the other. At the rear, and raised, 
is the emperor's throne. Why is Heaven not 
shown above all ? Perhaps the artist was inac- 
curate. Perhaps the fact that Heaven was 
above the neutral ground was sufficient for the 
demands of realism. 
" See p. 91. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 195 

That the scenery was raised at the rear of the 
stage seems to be an established fact. It may 
be that the sloping stage, which is the rule in 
French theaters to-day, is due to this custom. 
But it is difficult to admit that there were two 
stories of scenes supposed to be on Earth, the 
one superimposed upon the other. 

In producing the Vieil Testament the con- 
frerie had little trouble. It easily divided itself 
into parts or " acts " which would fill the time 
allotted to the performance. The part which 
deals with the creation was the most elaborate 
from the point of view of scenic effect ; but the 
setting which is required is quite possible on 
the stage of the confrerie. It was more effective 
in light effects. In imagining the setting one 
must reduce the dimensions of the scenes, and 
one must realize that fewer scenes are set. 

When the action opens, God is in Paradise, 
above the stage as usual. Adonc se doit tiref 
ung del de couleur de feu auquel sera escript: 
Celum empireum. The Angels enter : Lucifer 
ayant ung grant soleil resplandissant darriere 
lui. God is seated on high in Heaven, for when 
Lucifer tries to reach his lofty throne, Lassus 
en haulte eternite (line 285), a rubric directs 



196 STAGE DECOEATION 

the action thus: Adoncques se doivent eslever 
Lucifer et ses Anges par une roue secretement 
faicte dessus ung pivos a vis. Lucifer and his 
angels fall; and the devils, who are " ready in 
Hell," make an uproar and throw forth jets of 
flame. Whether a dragon's head served as en- 
trance or not, the interior of Hell was visible, 
and there follows a scene within it, as the fol- 
lowing lines show: Car je suis au parfont du 
puis (line 518) ; Sommes au parfont d'Enfer 
fondus (line 530). These expressions and 
others such as en ce gouffre point to a scene at 
least below Paradise and Terrestrial Paradise. 
The creation of the world is shown almost 
entirely by scenery. God descends from Para- 
dise with his angels. Adoncques se doibt mon- 
strer ung drap peinct, cest assavoir, la moitye 
toute blanche et V autre toute noire. 12 This is 
the separation of light from darkness. Adonc- 
ques se doit monstrer comme une mer, qui par 
avant ayt este couverte, et des poissons dedans 

12 Cohen, op. tit., p. 159, believes that this direction 
shows how darkness was represented when called for by 
such rubrics as Icy font les tenebres. But while this 
serves as an excellent allegorical representation of the 
separation of light and darkness, it is a question whether 
the lowering of a black cloth showed nightfall. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 197 

icelle mer. Unfortunately the means by which 
the sea was represented are not described. The 
scene was ready beforehand, but was hidden 
from view. Its disclosure meant the creation 
of water. Perhaps cloth was used for the set- 
ting as it is to-day. The creation of plants and 
trees was realistically represented. Adoncques 
doit on faire sortir petis arbres, rainseaulx et 
le plus de belles fleurs, selon la saison, quil sera 
possible. The sun, moon, and stars arise. 
Adoncques doit on faire monstrer un grant 
soleil. Adoncques se doit monstrer la lune plus 
bas que le soleil. Adoncques se doit monstrer 
ung del painct, tout seme d'estoilles et les noms 
des pianettes. 

Terrestrial Paradise is also disclosed, it 
evidently having been hidden from view until 
it was supposed to have been created. Adonc- 
ques se doit monstrer ung beau Paradis ter- 
restre, le mieulx et triumphamment fait quil 
sera possible et bien gamy de toutes fleurs, 
arbres, fruictz et autres plaisances, et au meillieu 
Varbre de vie, plus excellent que tous les autres. 
This scene has a gate as is learned from a later 
direction: Icy est Cherubin sur la porte de 
Paradis terrestre. The scene is further de- 



198 STAGE DECOEATION 

scribed : Adoncques se doivent monstrer quatre 
ruysseau, comme a maniere de petites fontaines, 
lesquelles soient aux quatre parties du Paradis 
terrestre et chacun d'iceulx escrips et ordonnez 
selon le texte. 

If the Confreres represented this part alone 
in one afternoon, which is quite possible, it is 
seen that their stage would present a quite dif- 
ferent appearance from the stage of an out- 
door mystery, set for the action of a whole day 
which sometimes embraced over 10,000 lines. 
Such a stage as the one described would be very 
different from the stage of the Nativite at 
Rouen in 1474. In fact this setting resembles 
a modern setting in extent, more than the regu- 
lar out-door stage. Even if the scenes were 
given up to that of the flood — more than this 
could not possibly be produced in four hours — 
the only settings to be added are a " city; " (Icy 
font une cyte Enoch, Yrard et Lameth) ; a house 
for Gain (Mene moy en la maison, line 4875) 
and a very simple out-door scene in a field or 
wood (II mest advis quen ce buisson . . . 
line 4743). The couche pour coucher Eve and 
the fosse for Adam are not exactly separate 
scenes. A natural division, however, would be 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 199 

made after the Creation and the Fall of man. 
Taking into consideration that the action and 
representation of the Creation wonld require so 
much time, it is probable that the play stopped 
after the Proces de Paradis and began the next 
day after the Fall. 

A new setting is needed for the flood. The 
ark is shown and is entered. Icy entrent Noe, 
sa femme et ses enfans en Varche, et y mettent 
plusieurs bestes et oyseaux de differentes sortes. 
Since there are scenes within the ark, its in- 
terior must have been made visible probably by 
means of opening the side toward the audience. 
The flood is realistic. Icy surmonteront les 
eaues tout le lieu, la ou Ven joue le mistere, et y 
pourra avoir plusieurs hommes et femmes qui 
feront semblant d'eulx noyer, qui ne parleront 
point. Finally it ceases to rain. We are hardly 
to believe that the eaues were real. Although 
a scene has already been noted in which real 
water is supposed to have been used, 13 such a 
scene as the one described above would be im- 
possible unless the water was merely repre- 
sented. After the cessation of the flood an 
altar is built, the rainbow appears, and the 
tower of Babel is erected. 

13 See p. 142. 



200 STAGE DECOEATION 

A break then occurs in action, and probably 
the performance ended there to begin anew the 
next day. One of the most complicated settings 
is demanded in chapter XVI., which was prob- 
ably represented on the second day, following 
the one described above. The house of Lot ap- 
pears; a tabernacle is mentioned by the lines; 
there is a tree; and finally comes a direction: 
Icy fondent les cinq cites. Yet this is not too 
much to set even on the in-door stage, although 
the number of scenes set could probably not ex- 
ceed six or seven. Six scenes is the average 
number in Hardy's plays produced at the Hotel 
de Bourgogne. 14 Day after day the stage must 
have been set with fewer scenes, since the lines 
which could be played in four hours often do 
not need more than three or four. 

Also, day after day the action does not de- 
mand any scene in Heaven or Hell. The re- 
sult is that the audiences of the Middle Ages 
were accustomed to a view of a stage which had 
very few scenes, and was on one level, and on 
which Heaven and Hell were not always shown 
even in religious plays. The scaffolding for 

14 Eigal, Theatre francais avant la periode classique. 
Paris, 1901, ch. VI. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 201 

Heaven was probably permanent; but we can 
hardly believe that the scene was always set and 
occupied by characters who had nothing to do 
with the action. As for the setting of Hell, it 
was surely removed when the action did not 
need it, if for no other reason than to make 
room for other scenery. We cannot say, there- 
fore, that Heaven and Hell were the most im- 
portant scenes even on the religious stage of the 
Middle Ages. When one pictures in his imagi- 
nation the stage of this period, if he only sees 
a platform of great length, with many scenes, 
surmounted by a scene in Heaven, and with a 
dragon's head at one end, he is far from real- 
izing the whole truth in regard to this very 
changeable and elastic theater. 



CHAPTEK XII 

The Profane Stage Setting of the Maulvais Eiche. 
Setting of Moralites. The Sottie. The Farce. 

The Enfants sans souci and the Basochiens 
made an arrangement by which each could use 
the repertory of the other. This gave the Baso- 
chiens the right to play sotties as well as moral- 
ites. Their stage was the famous Table de 
Marbre in the Palais. It is reported to have 
been 40 meters long by 12 meters 70 wide. 
Thus their stage was large enough for the 
scenery demanded by almost any play. On the 
other hand the Enfants sans souci joined with 
the Confreres and thus brought the profane 
pieces on the stages of the Trinite, the Hotel de 
Flandres, and the Hotel de Bourgogne. There 
were also representations in the open air of pro- 
fane as well as religious plays. The problem of 
the difference between the setting of the inclosed 
and open stages of the purely comic theater is 
not one of vital import, since scenery is much 

202 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 203 

less complicated in the farces and sotties than 
in the miracle and mystery plays. 

E~o strict line of demarcation can be drawn 
between the religions and profane drama. The 
two kinds mingle in morality plays, miracles, 
and histoires. 1 Thus it is with their setting. 
The general rule that scenery which was neces- 
sary to the action was set, holds good for all 
kinds of plays. One might make a distinction 
between the two kinds of plays on the ground 
that most religious dramas are set on a stage 
of at least two levels, the higher of which is 
occupied by Heaven, while the purely profane 
drama rarely represents Heaven. The Hell 
scene, however, appears in the comic stage in 
the Farce du Munyer, and in the morality of 
Bien Avise et Mai Avise. In the latter play, 
Hell is described as a kitchen: Devez noter 
quit doit estre en maniere de cuisine comme 
cheuz un Seigneur, et doit illec avoir serviteurs 
a la mode. Et la doit on faire grant tempeste 

1 In treating the different kinds of drama the classifi- 
cation made by Petit de Julleville has been followed. 
Thus plays treated in his work entitled les Mysteres 
have been considered as religious, while the examples of 
the profane theater have been taken from his Repertoire 
du theatre comique au moyen age. 



204 STAGE DECOEATION 

et les ames doivent fort crier en quelque lieu 
que Von ne les voie point. . . . Adonc chacun 
face son office et boutent et frappent sur la table 
d'ung baston, et devez sgavoir que la table doit 
etre noire et la nappe peinte de rouge. After 
the guests are served a sulphurous meal, the 
devils force them into the depths of Hell which 
were covered by the dragon's head. Thus we 
have an example of a stage on which there was 
a scene in Hell open to view, and on which the 
dragon's head appeared, although the play can- 
not be called religious. Yet the influence of the 
setting of religious plays upon that of the pro- 
fane plays is clearly shown. ~No doubt when 
the farces, which were produced on the stages 
of the Confreres, needed scenery, the maisons 
which served in the religious plays were util- 
ized. For this reason, namely, that scenery was 
already waiting for the farces in the inclosed 
theaters, it is to be believed that every scene 
in comedies produced in these theaters was as 
carefully set as the scenes in such plays as the 
Passion, even though stage directions in the 
manuscripts of farces and sotties are very rare 
and by no means explicit. Again the lines 
must furnish the information concerning the 
appearance of the stage set for comedy. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 205 

The Vie et Vhistoire du Maulvais Riche 2 is 
a play which represents Heaven and Hell, 
although it can hardly be classed as religious 
drama except from the point of view of stage 
decoration. The situation of the Heaven scene 
is above the stage, for Dieu le Pere says : Pour 
ce te convient devaller la-has. There are long 
scenes in Hell before Lucifer, and a part of the 
furnishing of the place is a cauldron in which 
a soul is tortured. There is no mention of a 
dragon's head, however, as being used either for 
entrance or exit of the scene. The house of the 
Maulvais Riche was carefully set. There were 
two rooms one of which was a kitchen: Tout 
droit men vois en la cuisine. The other room 
served as a dining room. A table is set and the 
meal is brought. Although the door is closed — 
Trotemenu, ferme la porte — the interior of the 
house was still visible. There was also a 
window represented: Que je vois en celle fen- 
estra This play holds the middle ground be- 
tween the two styles of stage decoration. It 
has the Heaven of the religious drama ; but the 

2 Eournier, Theatre frangais avant la Renaissance. 
Paris. Viollet-le-Duc, Ancien theatre frangais (Bibl. 
elzev.). 



./. 



206 STAGE DECOEATION 

little scenery on Earth — in this case but one 
maison — is a characteristic of the profane stage, 
notwithstanding the fact that in the productions 
of purely religious drama in-doors there were 
often few scenes set. 

Moralities without a scene in Heaven or Hell 
are the most common. In the Moralite nouvelle 
contenant comment Envie au temps de Main- 
tenant, 3 etc., stage directions furnish indica- 
tions for most of the simple scenery such as : 
Pause, et vont les premier et second filz sur la 
verdure, oil ilz se couchent; and Hz le jectent 
en la cyterne. The verdure must not be con- 
sidered as rhetorical when referred to by a rub- 
ric. In addition to this scenery the lines show 
a house : Partez-vous tost de la maison. 

Two moralities which show the same sim- 
plicity of stage setting are the Moralite d'ung 
Empereur qui tua son nepveu? etc., and the 
Moralite . . . d'une Femme qui avoit voulu 
trahir la cite de Pommel The former only 
requires two scenes. The emperor is En sa 
chambre. The house of the maiden does not 

3 Viollet-le-Duc, op. tit. 

4 Viollet-le-Duc, op. tit. 

5 Ibid. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 207 

seem to have appeared on the stage; but after 
she is abducted she is spoken of as being en 
ceste chambre la. This is all the scenery that 
is necessary; and the rest of the action passed 
on neutral ground. The latter play requires 
the interior of a prison as its only set scene. 
The house of the daughter is behind the scenes, 
and the three Komans seem to have merely oc- 
cupied chairs in giving their judgment. 

In the Moralite de Charite 6 a prologue, in- 
stead of naming the different scenes, points out 
the characters who are on the stage with the 
exception of Mort, who is en une ruelle or, in 
other words, behind the scenes. This change in 
the function of the prologue is a natural one in 
view of the fact that there was practically no 
scenery to explain. The only scenery on the 
stage was that of the house of the riche avari- 
cieulx and the house of the riche vertueux. The 
references in the lines to these houses are born 
out by the direction: Elle entre, which shows 
Charite entering the house of the latter. A 
table is also set within this house. The char- 
acters speak of a tavern; but as they never 
really arrive at it the scene was surely not set. 

°IMd. 



208 STAGE DECOKATION 

One of the most famous moralities is that 
written by Nicolas de la Chesnaye, the doctor 
of Louis XII., entitled Comdamnacion de Banc- 
quet. 7 It is supposed that this play was in the 
repertory of the Enfants sans soucif thus it 
was given at the Hopital de la Tririite. The 
characters sit down as they do in the mysteries 
when their part is temporarily finished. The 
doctor opens the play. Then comes the direc- 
tion: Apres ces motz, se retirera le Docteur et 
se yra seoir jusques a ce quil viendra faire son 
sermon. Another influence of the religious 
theater is seen in the orchestra which is sur 
V eschaffault ou en quelque lieu plus hault. This 
latter place is undoubtedly that part of the stage 
where the scene in Heaven was set in religious 
plays and the organ or orchestra was stationed. 

The first scene takes place at the house of 
Bonne Compaignie where a repast is served 
either on a "round or square table." Disner 
takes Bonne Compaignie and her followers to 
his house which he points out plainly: 

Veez cy mon logis et demaine; 
Veez cy l'estat tout prepare. 

7 Jacob, Kecueil des farces, sotties, et moralites du 
XV e siecle, p. 273. 

8 Ibid., p. 270. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 209 

There are two tables in the house, one for the 
guests, and a serving table. {Le Cuysinier aura 
ses metz tous prestz sur quelque autre table et les 
baillera aux servans.) The house is not merely 
represented by the tables, but has walls and 
windows. (Notez que Soupper et Bancquet les 
espient par quelques fenestre Jiaulte.) The 
house of Soupper, where the next repast is held, 
also is provided with a window, as is proved by 
a direction similar to this one just cited. The 
kitchen is also shown, for Soupper carries out 
the action implied in the lines: 

Je voys visiter le quartier 
De la cuysine cy aupres. 

The cook points out the many dishes which are 
prepared. The third meal takes place at the 
house of Bancquet. The house of Experience is 
merely marked by a chair: Experience, dame 
honnestement habillee, sera assise en siege mag- 
nifique. A prison is also called for by the 
rubric: Clistere les maine en prison. A gal- 
lows completes the scene. 

Gringore's morality 9 needs practically no 
scenery. The references of Peuple Ytalique 
"Gringore, (Euvres (Bibl. elzev.), p. 244. 
14 



210 STAGE DECOKATION 

and of Peuple Frangois to maisons do not ap- 
pear to point to scenery set upon the stage. 
Pugnicion Divine is, however, hault assise en 
une chaire, et elevee en Vair, so careful were 
the dramatic authors to see that the scenery 
carried the ideas set forth in the play. This 
play, belonging as it did to the Enfants sans 
souci, was produced in the Hopital de la 
Trinite. The chair of Pugnicion Divine, there- 
fore, would be placed on the level which served 
for the scene in Heaven. 

There is, then, no general type of stage which 
can be assigned to the morality. Its stage at 
times resembles that of the mysteries and shows 
scenes in Heaven, in Hell, and on Earth. 
There is also the setting which shows Earth and 
a scene in Hell, while the Comdamnacion de 
Bancquet requires neither a scene in Heaven 
nor one in Hell. Finally there is the morality 
which demands no setting whatsoever but de- 
pended upon lines and costumes to arouse 
interest. Examples of this class are Moralite 
Nouvelle de Mundus, Caro, Demonia, and 
Marchebeau. The Bergerie de mieulx que 
devant merely had one setting of a pastoral 
scene. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 211 

Scenery is unimportant in these plays when 
there is little action and when the subject is 
of a satirical nature treated allegorically. When 
there is a real plot and action, however, as in 
the C omdamnacion de Bancquet, even though 
the subject is allegorical, scenery is generally 
required. Its function is more to explain the 
action than to arouse the wonder and admiration 
of the spectators. When compared with other 
moralities, Bien Avise et Mai Avise seems to 
be rather an exception in this respect, with its 
evidently elaborate Hell scene and its revolv- 
ing Wheel of Fortune to which four men are 
attached who are named respectively : Regnabo, 
Regno, Regnavi, Sum sine regno. The Mora- 
lite de Vhomme juste et de Vhomme mondain 
also had a careful setting. Its stage must have 
resembled that of a mystery play, especially in 
the setting of Heaven. Est a noter que Paradis 
sera faict au coste des Cieulx un peu assez loin. 
Et dans ledict paradis y aura la Trinite, Nostre 
Dame et les saincts suivant leur ordre. 9 * The 
influence of the stage decoration of the religious 
drama on the setting of the morality play is 
again very plain. Yet, though these spectacular 

8a Freres Parfaict, vol. Ill, p. 120. 



212 STAGE DECOEATION 

scenes exist, the morality cannot be considered 
as being primarily a spectacular production. 
Scenery generally plays a secondary part in the 
representations of this kind of drama. 

The sottie resembles the shorter allegorical 
moralities in the matter of stage decoration. 
Settings are sometimes entirely lacking as in 
the Sottie du Monde 10 and the Sottie des Be- 
guins. 11 In Gringore's Jeu du Prince des 
Sotz 12 there is a direction: II descend given to 
the Seigneur de la Lune. Thus the character 
probably came down from a moon ; but there is 
no scene which is formally set. The Sottie nou- 
velle de T 'Astrologue ls is merely a political 
satire in dialogue. It is, therefore, without 
action and without scenery. 

There must have been a simple setting for the 
Sottie du Roy des Sots 14 which conformed to 
the following dialogue: 

Sottinet. 
Je voy ung fol par ce pertuys. 

10 Fournier, op. cit. 

11 Ibid. 

12 Gringore, op. cit., p. 201. 

13 Societe des anciens textes francais, vol. 47. 
14 Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 213 

Le Roy des Sots. 
Ou? ou? 

Sottinet. 
Au dessus de eet huys. 

Guippelin is then dragged forth from this im- 
plied malson; no other decoration seems to have 
appeared. 

One scene was probably set for the Bottle des 
Trompeurs. 15 It was a house in which Bottle 
is found ; and it is implied in the line in which 
Fine Mine says of Bottle: Je Vay veue par la 
fenestre. This might be considered as being 
rhetorical were it not for Chascun saying: 
Ouvrez, to those who are supposed to be within 
the house. Teste Verte also says: Ferons-nous 
Chascun entrer ceansf 

An allegorical scene was set for the Bottle du 
Vleux Monde. First there appeared six trees 
from each one of which a sot came forth. The 
world, in the shape of a large pasteboard globe, 
was raised upon six pillars, which, in turn 
rested upon a table called Confusion. 16 The 
structure falls during the play. 

The stage decoration of the sottle in general 

15 Ibid. 

18 Morice, op. cit., p. 273. Fr&res Parfaict, op. cit., 
vol. II, p. 230. 



214 STAGE DECOEATION 

was very meager. Of all kinds of theatrical 
representations in the Middle Ages, this one 
lends itself least to any setting. Again it is 
the nature of the play — a dialogue with little 
action — which seems to be the cause of the lack 
of scenery. Costumes, in a measure, took its 
place. 

The farce shows many gradations of stage 
setting. Many plays of this kind were given 
without any setting, such as: Mestier et Mar- 
chandise, 11 Farce de Folconduit, 18 Farce de 
Jolyet, 19 etc. The art of stage decoration, how- 
ever, is so far advanced by the time that the 
extant farces make their appearance that the 
fact that some require decoration and others do 
not, proves nothing. We cannot say that there 
was an evolution of stage setting in the farces. 
It is true that the early farce of Eustache Des- 
champs, le Dit des .1111. Offices is without in- 
dication of or reference to scenery ; but it is not 
because of the early period of production, for 
stage decoration was, of course, a well-known 
art in the middle of the fourteenth century. 

"Founder, op. cit. 

18 Ibid. 

19 Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit. 



IN EBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 215 

We also find farces of the sixteenth century 
without scenery, such as the Farce des Theo- 



scenery depends not upon the time of the pro- 
duction of the farce, but, as in the morality, 
upon the nature of the plot. If there is much 
action there is generally some scenery. 

A very simple setting occurs in the mono- 
logue of the Franc Archer du Baignolet 21 in 
which the direction is found : II doit avoir un 
espovantail de chaneviere en facon d'un arba- 
lestrier, croix blanche devant et croix noire der- 
riere. The Farce du Cuvier 22 must have given 
the stage the appearance of being set for an 
interior, but for only one scene. The washtub, 
into which the wife falls, appeared on the stage. 
What other properties there were, we cannot 
say. A single scene within a house was also 
necessary for the Farce d'ung Savetier 23 dur- 
ing the action of which a table is set in an 
interior (Or vous seez done a la table). In the 
Farce nouvelle du Nouveau marie 24 the scene 

20 Fournier, op. cit. 

21 Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit. 

22 Ibid. 
28 Fournier, op. cit. 

24 Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit. 



216 STAGE DECOEATION 

opens at the house of the father who tells his 
daughter: Entre, tu soys la bien venue. They 
are about to have supper. Here, again, the set- 
ting is that of an interior; and this is the only 
scene possible. A similar interior is implied in 
the Farce de Jeninot 25 in the direction: en se 
couchant dedans un lict. Only one scene is re- 
quired by the Farce d'un Pardonneur, Triacleur, 
et d'une Taverniere 2& This is a tavern, into 
which the actors enter. ( Yenez, entrez, j'ay de 
bon vin.) A chasteau is the setting for Folle 
Bobance 21 It is pointed out by the line: En- 
trez, vella vostre demeure. Of course the ex- 
terior of some of these scenes was shown, as in 
the Farce de frere Guillebert 28 which requires 
an interior with a bed, while an actor who was 
visible out of doors speaks the line: Et puis, 
hay, m' ouvrirez-vous Vhuys? Such settings, 
however, may be considered as consisting of but 
one scene. 

The Farce de Colin 29 is one of the very few 
plays of this kind which contains information 

25 Viollet-le-Duc ; op. cit. 

26 Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit. 

27 Ibid. 

28 Ibid. 

29 Ibid. 



IN FEANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 217 

in regard to setting in its stage directions. 
There is a bench (La Femme sassiet sur ung 
banc en plourant) ; and also the interior and 
exterior of Colin's house, for Colin va en sa 
maison, et dit en entrant. The setting of the 
interior must have been very complete, for a 
direction reads : II se met a table; and the lines 
point to the following objects: 

Et ce beau lict, eiel et cortines, 
Simaises, potz, casses, bassines. 



Banez, treteaux, tables, eseabelles. 

The setting of an interior of a house, with the 
exterior so often visible as well, is quite a com- 
mon setting on the stage of the Middle Ages 
by virtue of these farces. 

An example of a stage set with two scenes 
is found in the Farce du bon payeur. 30 The 
house of Lucas into which Vert Gallant enters 
is necessary to the action and is shown by the 
line : Sa femme qui file a son Tiuys. The payeur 
is found in bed in his house. (Est il heure de 
se lever?) 

The Farce du Munyer 31 also has but two 

30 Fournier, op. cit. 

31 Ibid. 



218 STAGE DECOEATION 

scenes: the house of the miller and a scene in 
Hell. This farce was given in Seurre in 1496 
on a stage set for a representation of the Mys- 
tere de saint Martin composed by Andre de la 
Vigne, who is also author of the farce. It was 
during the representation of this mystery that 
the accident took place which is reported as 
follows: . . . celuy qui jouoit le personnaige 
de Sathan ainsi quit volut sortir de son secret 
par dessoubz terre, le feu prist a son habit autour 
des f esses, tellement quit jut fort brusle. The 
Hell scene in the mystery was, therefore, suf- 
ficiently realistic; and no doubt the farce used 
the same scene. The interior of Hell is proved 
to have been visible by the direction in the 
farce: Icy la scene est en Enfer. A cauldron 
forms one of the properties of this scene. (Hz 
lui apportent une chauldiere. The house of the 
miller is mentioned in the direction: Le cure, 
devant la maison. The miller is within, couche 
en ung lict. . . . 

In Pathelin 32 there are three scenes. First, 
there is the house of Pathelin, in which there is 
a bed. That there is really a house and not 
merely a bed on the stage is shown by the direc- 

32 Jacob, op. cit. 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 219 

tion: II frappe a la porte de Pathelin. The 
second scene is the shop of the drappier shown 
by the direction: devant la houtique du drap- 
pier. Pathelin enters the shop and sits down. 
Thus the scenery was no mere summary repre- 
sentation of the place. Finally there is the 
scene before the judge who was probably seated 
in a chair ; but there seems to be no other setting 
for this scene. 

In regard to the construction of scenery, 
Kigal has a theory which may well be con- 
sidered in the light of these plays. He says: 
Pour les habitations, la necessite d'une telle 
convention etait plus grande encore, parce que 
la plupart des cabanes, des ermitages, des cham- 
bres, faisaient face, non au public, mais a la 
scene. II etait impossible d'y faire dialoguer 
les acteurs; tout un cote de la salle ne les eut 
point vus, et V autre cote lui-meme aurait eu de 
la peine a les entendre. Que faisait-on? Si la 
chambre renfermait " un lit bien pare," un 
personnage pouvait se montrer d'abord sur ce 
lit, qui occupait le point le plus en vue du com- 
partiment; mais il s'en levait bien vite, et venait 
parler hors de sa chambre. La plupart du 
temps, c etait sur le seuil meme des chambres, 



220 STAGE DECOEATION 

des ermitages, des cdbanes, que les personnages 
se montraient, et Us ne sy tenaient meme pas. 33 
If this is true, Pathelin would go to bed and 
show himself for a moment, then rise quickly 
and come out of his room to speak. The miller 
would do the same in the Farce du Munyer. 
He would not die in bed, as he manifestly does. 
Such an action would spoil entirely the cleverly 
built situation of Pathelin feigning illness in 
bed and it would have become, under these con- 
ditions, unintelligible to the audience. Rigal 
does not give any source for his belief that it 
was the side wall of the maisons which was 
taken out. Such a proceeding would be im- 
practicable, and would seem to cause unneces- 
sary difficulty. Therefore, just as the artist of 
miniatures in the Middle Ages left out the wall 
of the maison which faces the eyes in order to 
allow what was going on within to be seen, so 
the stage carpenter surely left out the front wall 
of his maisons. This is the obvious and sim- 
plest way of showing an interior. Doors and 
windows were then in the side wall, which was 
foreshortened enough to allow a full view of the 
stage. This is the plan which is followed at the 
33 Eigal, op. tit., p. 264. 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 221 

present time if two rooms or an exterior and 
interior must be visible simultaneously on the 
stage. 

Farces which require more than two settings 
are rare, yet the Farce du Poulier 3 * probably 
used four scenes. The miller's house is re- 
quired by the lines: 

. . . Je mettray 
L'huys hors des gons, si tu ne m'ouvre. 

The hen-house is also shown. (Cachez vous 
dedans ce poulier.) There is also a house for 
Mme. de la Papilloniere implied by the line: 
II ne vous desplait pas si j'entre. There is 
nothing in the text which refers to a house for 
Mme. la Hannetonneur ; but since she plays a 
similar role to Mme. de la Papilloniere she had 
some sort of a maison, in all probability, in 
which she was visited. The hen-house was, in 
reality, a part of the miller's house, for the two 
gallants, when concealed in the hen-house, can 
see what is going on in the miller's dwelling. 
In another farce 35 on the same subject the 
chicken coop is in a second story, as is shown 

34 Mabille, Choix de Farces, Nice, 1875, vol. II, p. 94. 

35 Mabille, op. cit. 



222 STAGE DECOKATION 

by the words : montez au poulier. Perhaps this 
arrangement existed in this play, for the gal- 
lants may well be looking down from above, 
rather than through a door or window placed so 
that the interior of the house is visible from 
their hiding place. This setting, then, really 
consists of only one important scene and two 
minor ones. 

The stage when set for a farce had little 
scenery. This style of dramatic representa- 
tion was very popular during the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries. Therefore the stage of the 
Middle Ages was often very simply decorated. 
In the farce, Heaven was never represented, 
and Hell was rarely seen. The stage often con- 
sisted of but one level. The scenes were set 
simultaneously in purely profane drama; but 
they were few in number in comparison with the 
religious drama, and they were far less elaborate. 
The Parisian, therefore, was quite accustomed, 
after 1402, to a stage with few scenes and on 
one level. This stage is just as characteristic of 
the Middle Ages as the large temporary plat- 
form on which many scenes were placed includ- 
ing Heaven and Hell. In fact the Parisian may 
have considered the great open air spectacles. 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 223 

as we consider performances in a Hippodrome 36 
or on the large stage of an opera, as being out 
of the ordinary in regard to scenery; while the 
Hopital de la Trinite and Hotel de Bourgogne 
with their small stages may have seemed to him 
to constitute the regular and normal theater 
from the beginning of the fifteenth century 
when the inclosed stage was established per- 
manently. 

88 We refer to the New York theater of that 



CONCLUSI0N 

The existence of liturgical drama was the 
result of an attempt to make certain religious 
ceremonies more real and life-like. In order 
to heighten the effect of reality the altar was 
considered as representing the sepulchre or the 
manger. Such scenes are primitive beginnings 
of a system of stage decoration which lasted 
through many centuries. Do we find this the 
spontaneous and unconscious origin of modern 
stage setting? Did the people of the Middle 
Ages suddenly awake to find that the Church 
had created drama and had introduced scenery ? 
If it be granted that drama was introduced into 
the Church from profane shows of some kind, 
the question of the origin of scenery is still 
unanswered. It would be possible for the dra- 
matic form of art to live without scenery, yet 
the element of setting was so important in the 
earliest medieval dramas, which have been pre- 
served, that it is easy to believe in a figurative, 
summary setting in profane mimes. Thus as 
224 



IN FBANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 225 

we accept the theory of an unbroken dramatic 
tradition, so we accept the theory of an un- 
broken tradition of stage decoration, although 
we realize the futility of attempting to prove 
that this was the case from data available at 
present. It is merely the impression which has 
arisen during the study of the whole question. 

Whatever setting there was during the period 
of attempted suppression of dramatic perform- 
ances by the Church, and during the rise of 
religious drama, was undoubtedly improvised 
and much must have been left to the imagina- 
tion. Proof of this is found in the description 
of the earliest settings which are known to us. 
The liturgical drama, however, soon spread out 
its field of action. As the play grew more com- 
plicated, so the scenery followed it. A play was 
written in which the action occurred in two 
places. The scenery representing them was set 
before the action began and the simultaneous 
stage setting existed. This may have happened 
in either the religious or profane drama. The 
first extant example of this system occurs in 
religious drama. 

The liturgical drama discards makeshift and 
improvised scenery, and uses real scenery, 

15 



226 STAGE DECOKATION 

finally. Its scenes are set on one level. The 
Hell scene is shown very rarely, and there is 
no setting which formally represents Heaven. 
These two scenes are the least important of all 
in this kind of drama. 

The custom of setting the scene in Heaven on 
a higher level is foreshadowed in the liturgical 
dramas in which angels appear from on high; 
and, in the Adam play, Terrestrial Paradise is 
placed on a level above the stage. A Hell scene 
is also indicated in this play, although prob- 
ably the entrance was the only visible part of 
the setting, and there is little reason for con- 
jecturing that the scene was in the form of a 
dragon's head as early as the thirteenth century. 
Had this setting been popular so early, it is 
not probable that it would have been considered 
as something wonderful in the fifteenth cen- 
tury. 

The stage of the thirteenth century is set 
with few scenes. " " There seems to be hesitation 
between the stage of one level and that of two 
levels. There is thus little difference between 
the appearance of the stage set for religious 
plays and one set for profane representations. 
There is a development in the importance of 



IN FKANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 227 

scenery, which begins to fulfill the function of 
adding interest to the production as well as of 
making the action clear. This secondary use 
of scenery to delight the eye grows in impor- 
tance when the plays in pantomime and tab- 
leaux are represented along the streets. 

In the latter part of the fourteenth and the 
beginning of the fifteenth century dramatic pro- 
ductions must be divided into two classes : those 
given in-doors and hence on a small stage, and 
those given in the open air on stages built to 
meet all demands of the play in regard to 
scenery. 

Productions in the open air were no novelty 
even in the thirteenth century; but the mimed 
productions of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies must have influenced these representa- 
tions in the matter of stage decoration. The 
fact that no word was spoken in these panto- 
mimes and tableaux would force the setting to 
be exact and interesting. The people grew ac- 
customed to a long, out-door stage upon which 
there were many places represented with elabo- 
rate scenery. It is but a short step to the great 
spoken mystery in a market place or an amphi- 
theater. The step is made by having the char- 



228 STAGE DECOEATION 

acters speak. On these stages the setting 
reached its highest point of development. 
Heaven and Hell were very important scenes 
and were set with great care. The stage showed 
two and three levels and sometimes more, as in 
Michel's version of the Passion. The number 
of levels often depended npon whether the in- 
terior of Hell had to be open to view or not. 
These productions are very wonderful and 
curious, but they are more or less of an episode 
in the history of the French drama. They 
reached a certain point in their development 
and then disappeared, with the exception of a 
few scattered performances in later centuries. 
!N"o doubt the existence of such spectacles in the 
open air tended to make the scenery of the in- 
door stage more realistic; but these two kinds 
of stages must have differed, not in principle, 
but in result. 

The indoor stage is smaller. There are few 
scenes set upon it. This is just as true in 1636 
as in 1402. Eeligious and profane dramas were 
given on these stages. The Parisian saw many 
kinds of stage decoration; but he was fully ac- 
customed to a small stage with few scenes. The 
question of whether Heaven and Hell were 



IN FRANCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 229 

shown or not depended upon the play. A stage 
was often set without either scene or sometimes 
with one and not the other. 

It was this setting of five or six scenes which 
Hardy used and of which Scudery said in 1637 : 
Le theatre en est si mal entendu qu'un meme 
lieu representant V appartement du roi, celui de 
V infant, la maison de Chimene et la rue presque 
sans changer de face, le spectateur ne sait, le 
plus souvent, oil sont les acteurs. In the 
Trois Sosies, Eotrou uses the same words which 
occur in the mystery plays in the direction: le 
del s'ouvre. But this system of stage decora- 
tion was destined to fall into disuse with the 
advent of the three unities. 

The method of setting several scenes at once 
upon a stage ought to need no apology. At 
first glance one is likely to consider this system 
as naive. But all drama rests upon convention. 
Perhaps no other form of art demands such a 
complete surrender of the reasoning power to 
the imagination and so perfect an understand- 
ing between the producer and the recipient. 
One may easily believe a story no matter how 
extravagant it may be ; but in the theater every- 
thing is a sham and unreal. At present we are 



230 STAGE DECOEATION 

very free in regard to theatrical conventions. 
The supernatural may be introduced on the 
stage in any form. One will believe that years 
have intervened, or that thousands of miles have 
been traversed, provided a curtain is dropped 
or the theater is darkened for a moment. The 
medieval spectator did not need this aid to 
the imagination. He could turn his eyes from 
one scene to another without being awakened 
from his delightful unreal world. At times the 
dramatic effect was even heightened by the ex- 
posure of different scenes at once. Imagine 
for a moment the dramatic contrast in seeing 
the blessed in Heaven and the damned in Hell 
at the same time. Who shall say that this sys- 
tem is any more naive than the one in vogue 
at present! If the audience of the Middle 
Ages did not wish to let their eyes wander, there 
was practically but one scene before them at a 
time; and the spectator was not called back 
periodically to the garish reality of a theater as 
he is in modern times. 



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